Masculinity

How to spell masculinity

11 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce masculinity

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does masculinity mean?

1. nounThe qualities, traits, or appearance traditionally associated with men.

Masculinity in a sentence

• The documentary explored how masculinity is portrayed in modern advertising.

• His quiet confidence projected a calm sense of masculinity.

Where does masculinity come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin masculus, meaning 'male', which was itself a diminutive of mas, the plain Latin word for a male person or animal; in effect masculus meant something like 'little male'. From masculus came the Latin adjective masculinus, 'of the male sex', and that adjective passed into Old French as masculin before reaching English in the late 1300s as 'masculine'. The abstract noun 'masculinity', naming the quality or condition of being masculine, was assembled later by adding the familiar Latin-derived ending -ity, which turns adjectives into nouns of state. The same mas root sits quietly inside 'male' itself, and recognising the -ine of 'masculine' helps explain why the noun keeps its single 'l' and 's' rather than doubling them. Because the spelling simply stacks regular pieces (mascul + in + ity), the main trap is hearing the unstressed middle vowels rather than any irregular letters.

How the word is built

• mascul- (from Latin masculus: male)
• -in- (adjective link, as in masculine)
• -ity (noun-forming suffix: state or quality)