man child

See also: manchild and man-child

English

Alternative forms

man-child, manchild

Etymology

From Middle English manchylde, man-chylde (“a male child”), equivalent to man +‎ child.

Noun

man child (plural man children or men children)

(archaic) A young male human; a boy.
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:boy
Antonyms: girlchild, woman child
- c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene vii], page 135, column 2:
  Bring forth Men-Children onely: / For thy vndaunted Mettle ſhould compoſe / Nothing but Males.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Leviticus 12:2:
  Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean.
- 1891, Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, The Blue Pavilions:
  "She is dead," he announced, very gravely and simply.
  The hunchback shivered. Captain Runacles neither spoke nor stirred in his chair.
  "A man-child was born at two o'clock. He is alive: his mother died two hours later."
  (Set in 1673)
(informal, chiefly derogatory) An adult man who is childish or immature.
- 2004, Glen Macnow; Angelo Cataldi, The Great Philadelphia Sports Debate, Middle Atlantic Press, published 2004, →ISBN, page 161:
  In the end, Brown said he just couldn't stand another day of trying to run a team with two sets of rules — one for 11 players and the other for the man-child superstar.

Translations

Spanish: zangolotino (es)