Manage

How to spell manage

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce manage

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does manage mean?

1. verbTo be in charge of, control, or succeed in dealing with something.

Manage in a sentence

• She was hired to manage the new branch office.

• With careful budgeting they could manage on a single income.

Where does manage come from?

Language of origin: Italian

This word traces back to the Latin word manus, meaning 'hand', and so its earliest sense was firmly about handling something with the hands. It reached English in the sixteenth century from the Italian verb maneggiare, which meant to handle or control, and especially to train and put a horse through its paces. That equestrian sense travelled through French as well, where the related word manege still names a riding school or the schooling of horses. Over time the idea of skilfully handling an animal broadened into handling affairs, people, and businesses, giving us the modern meanings of directing an organisation and of coping successfully with a task. The buried hand inside man- is a useful reminder that to manage is, at root, to take something in hand.

How the word is built

• man- (from Latin manus: hand)
• -age (noun/verb-forming suffix)