Mancynn

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The entire human race, considered collectively as all people living on the earth
2. An archaic term for mankind, referring to the whole body of human beings together
3. Humanity taken as a single group, meaning all men, women and children alike

Etymology: Old English "mancynn" meant "humankind" or "the human race," and it was built from two plain parts: "man," which then meant a person of either sex, and "cynn," meaning "kind," "race," or "family." "Cynn" is the same root as modern "kin" and "kind," so the word literally named the human kin. Old English had separate words for a male person, "wer," and a female one, "wif," so "man" had not yet narrowed to "male." Modern "mankind" is a direct descendant, formed the same way from "man" and "kind," and it replaced "mancynn" in Middle English. The shift from "man" as "person" to "man" as "adult male" happened gradually, so "mankind" carried a broader sense for centuries before its current associations took hold.

Synonyms: mankind, humankind