Latin word root · Body & Health

man-: hand

man- is a Latin root meaning “hand”. Learn its variants and explore 20 connected words.

Meaning and variants

Meaning: hand

Root forms: man-, manu-

Source word: manus — hand

Word family and examples

• manual

  operated by hand rather than automatically

• batman

  A servant or valet to a military officer.

• manufacture

  to make something on a large scale using machinery

• businessman

  A man in business, one who works at a commercial institution.

• manuscript

  a document written by hand or an author's text before printing

• statesman

  A man who is a leader in national or international affairs.

• batsman

  A player of the batting side now on the field.

• snowman

  A humanoid figure made with large snowballs stacked on each other. Human traits like a face and arms may be fashioned with sticks (arms), a carrot (nose), and stones or coal (eyes, mouth).

• portman

  A burgess of a port, especially of one of the Cinque Ports.

• journeyman

  A tradesman who has completed an apprenticeship or equivalent educational path in a trade.

• kinsman

  A male relative.

• shipman

  Synonym of sailor.

• boatman

  A sailor on a small vessel (boat), particularly its captain.

• lawman

  A lawspeaker: a declarer of the law.

• draughtsman

  A person skilled at drawing engineering or architectural plans.

• woodsman

  A man who lives and works in woodland; a forester or woodman.

• megaman

  A very large or powerful man.

• starman

  A spaceman.

• lightman

  A man who carries or takes care of a light.

• beeman

  One who tends bees, usually as an occupation; beekeeper.

Root connections help with vocabulary recall. They are not a complete etymological history, and a spelling match alone does not prove a relationship.

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