Adjacent Words

Male definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MALE, a. [L. masculus, from mas,maris.]
1. Pertaining to the sex that procreates young, and applied to animals of all kinds; as a male child; a male beast, fish, or fowl.
2. Denoting the sex of a plant which produces the fecundating dust, or a flower or plant that bears the stamens only, without pistils.
3. Denoting the screw whose threads enter the grooves or channels of the corresponding or female screw.
MALE, n. Among animals, one of the sex whose office is to beget young; a he-animal.
1. In botany, a plant of flower which produces stamens only, without pistils.
2. In mechanics, the screw whose threads enter the grooves or channels of the corresponding part or female screw.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: being the sex (of plant or animal) that produces gametes (spermatozoa) that perform the fertilizing function in generation; "a male infant"; "a male holly tree" [ant: androgynous, female]
2: characteristic of a man; "a deep male voice"; "manly sports" [syn: male, manful, manlike, manly, virile]
3: for or pertaining to or composed of men or boys; "the male lead"; "the male population" n
1: an animal that produces gametes (spermatozoa) that can fertilize female gametes (ova) [ant: female]
2: a person who belongs to the sex that cannot have babies [syn: male, male person] [ant: female, female person]
3: the capital of Maldives in the center of the islands

Merriam Webster's

geographical name island (atoll), chief of the Maldives; contains the nation's capital

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French masle, male, adjective & noun, from Latin masculus — more at masculine Date: 14th century 1. a. a male person ; a man or a boy b. an individual that produces small usually motile gametes (as spermatozoa or spermatozoids) which fertilize the eggs of a female 2. a staminate plant II. adjective Date: 14th century 1. a. (1) of, relating to, or being the sex that produces gametes which fertilize the eggs of a female (2) staminate; especially having only staminate flowers and not producing fruit or seeds <a male holly> b. (1) of, relating to, or characteristic of the male sex <a deep male voice> (2) made up of usually adult male individuals <a male choir> 2. masculine 3a 3. designed with a projecting part for fitting into a corresponding female part <male hose coupling> • maleness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 of the sex that can beget offspring by fertilization or insemination (male child; male dog). 2 of men or male animals, plants, etc.; masculine (the male sex; a male-voice choir). 3 a (of plants or their parts) containing only fertilizing organs. b (of plants) thought of as male because of colour, shape, etc. 4 (of parts of machinery etc.) designed to enter or fill the corresponding female part (a male screw). --n. a male person or animal. Phrases and idioms: male chauvinist a man who is prejudiced against women or regards women as inferior. male fern a common lowland fern, Dryopteris filixmas. male menopause a crisis of potency, confidence, etc., supposed to afflict men in middle life. Derivatives: maleness n. Etymology: ME f. OF ma(s)le, f. L masculus f. mas a male

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Male Male, a. [L. malus. See Malice.] Evil; wicked; bad. [Obs.] --Marston.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Male Male, n. Same as Mail, a bag. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Male Male, a. [F. m[^a]le, OF. masle, mascle, fr. L. masculus male, masculine, dim. of mas a male; possibly akin to E. man. Cf. Masculine, Marry, v. t.] 1. Of or pertaining to the sex that begets or procreates young, or (in a wider sense) to the sex that produces spermatozoa, by which the ova are fertilized; not female; as, male organs. 2. (Bot.) Capable of producing fertilization, but not of bearing fruit; -- said of stamens and antheridia, and of the plants, or parts of plants, which bear them. 3. Suitable to the male sex; characteristic or suggestive of a male; masculine; as, male courage. 4. Consisting of males; as, a male choir. 5. (Mech.) Adapted for entering another corresponding piece (the female piece) which is hollow and which it fits; as, a male gauge, for gauging the size or shape of a hole; a male screw, etc. Male berry (Bot.), a kind of coffee. See Pea berry. Male fern (Bot.), a fern of the genus Aspidium (A. Filixmas), used in medicine as an anthelmintic, esp. against the tapeworm. Aspidium marginale in America, and A. athamanticum in South Africa, are used as good substitutes for the male fern in medical practice. See Female fern, under Female. Male rhyme, a rhyme in which only the last syllables agree, as laid, afraid, dismayed. See Female rhyme, under Female. Male screw (Mech.), a screw having threads upon its exterior which enter the grooves upon the inside of a corresponding nut or female screw. Male thread, the thread of a male screw.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Male Male, n. 1. An animal of the male sex. 2. (Bot.) A plant bearing only staminate flowers.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(males) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. Someone who is male is a man or a boy. Many women achievers appear to pose a threat to their male colleagues... Most of the demonstrators were white and male. ? female ADJ • maleness ...the solidarity among men which is part of maleness. N-UNCOUNT 2. Men and boys are sometimes referred to as males when they are being considered as a type. A high proportion of crime is perpetrated by young males in their teens and twenties. = man ? female N-COUNT 3. Male means relating, belonging, or affecting men rather than women. The rate of male unemployment in Britain is now the third worst in Europe. ...a deep male voice. ? female ADJ: ADJ n 4. You can refer to any creature that belongs to the sex that cannot lay eggs or have babies as a male. Males and females take turns brooding the eggs. ? female N-COUNT • Male is also an adjective. After mating the male wasps tunnel through the sides of their nursery. ? female ADJ

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

mal

(1) zakhar, zakhar, zakhur (the root means "to stand out," "to be prominent," here a physiological differentiation of the sex, as neqebhah, "female," which see);

(2) 'ish literally, "man";

(3) by circumlocution, only in the books of Samuel and Kings, mashtin beqir; ouron pros toichon, which the Revised Version (British and American) euphemistically renders "man-child" (1Sa 25:22,34; 1Ki 14:10)):

Gesenius has rightly pointed out that this phrase designates young boys, who do not as yet wear clothes, of whom the above description is accurate, while it does not apply in the case of adults, even in the modern Orient. We know this from the statement of Herodotus ii.35, relating to Egypt, and from Jud 3:24; 1Sa 24:3. The Greek translates these words with arsen, arrhen, while 1 Macc 5:28,51 has the adjective arsenikos.

The above words (the phrase mashtin beqir excepted) are used promiscuously of animals and men, e.g. "Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee seven and seven, the male ('ish) and his female, of the birds also of the heavens, seven and seven, male (zakhar) and female" (Ge 7:2,3). A careful distinction was made in the use of male and female animals in the rules concerning sacrifice; in some offerings none but males were allowed, in others females were permitted along with the males (Le 3:6). The same distinction was made in the valuation of the different sexes (Ge 32:14,15; Le 27:5). Certain priestly portions were permitted to the Levites or the male descendants of Aaron for food, while women were not permitted to partake of the same (Nu 18:10,11).

As a rule Jewish parents (as is now common in the Orient) preferred male children to daughters. This is seen from the desire for male progeny (1Sa 1:8-18) and from the ransom paid for firstborn sons to Yahweh (Ex 13:12; Lu 2:23). It was reserved to the New Testament to proclaim the equality of the sexes, as it does of races and conditions of men: "There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female; for ye all are one man in Christ Jesus" (Ga 3:28).

See WOMAN.

Among the prominent sins of oriental peoples, "the abominations of the nations which Yahweh drove out before the children of Israel" was one of the most heinous character, that of sodomy, against which God's people are repeatedly warned. The Greek expression for the devotee of this vice is a compound noun, arsenokoites, literally, "he who lies with man," the abuser of himself with mankind, the sodomite (1Co 6:9), while the Hebrew qadhesh, literally means the (male) devotee of lascivious and licentious idolatry (De 23:17; 1Ki 14:24; 15:12; 22:46; 2Ki 23:7; Job 36:14).

H. L. E. Luering

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Masculine. 2. Staminate. II. n. Male animal.

Moby Thesaurus

andric, bull, gentleman, gentlemanlike, gentlemanly, he, him, his, hombre, homme, male being, male person, man, manful, manlike, manly, mannish, masculine, spear, uneffeminate, virile