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Man, Woman, Werewolf and Midwife – a little history of English genders.
Back in the mid-5th century a bunch of Germanic tribes crossed the North Sea as part of an invasion of Britain lasting several decades. This invasion largely displaced the local Celtic tribes pushing them to the west of the island into regions now known as Wales and Cornwall. The invaders also brought their own language, replacing native Celtic with a mix of related Germanic dialects (Angle, Saxon, Jute, Friesian) that we now know as Old English or Anglo Saxon.
One of the words these newcomers brought with them was ‘wer’ meaning adult male; the equivalent of the Modern English word ‘man’. The word ‘mann’ actually existed in Anglo Saxon but it had a broader meaning. Back then, ‘mann’ was a collective term for ‘people’ (male or female) or ‘human beings’. You can still hear this non-gendered meaning in words like ‘manslaughter’ or ‘mankind’ or phrases like ‘the ascent of man’. The gender-neutral version of ‘man’ is also retained in the word ‘woman’.
‘Wer’ practically vanished from English by the 13th century to be replaced by ‘man’ which gradually became the accepted word for a male adult - but ‘wer’ didn’t completely disappear. It hung around in history books in words like ‘wergild’ (man-payment); an old Anglo-Saxon term for compensation paid to relatives of a murder victim to avoid a blood feud. It also stuck around in the mythical ‘werewolf’ or ‘man – wolf’. ‘Werewolf’ or a similar form (weerwolf, varulf) is common to a number of Germanic languages.
While Old English ‘wer’ meant ‘man’ its female equivalent was ‘wif’ meaning ‘woman’. Over time ‘wif’ morphed into ‘wife’ (a married woman). You can still see the original sense of ‘woman’ in words like ‘midwife’. ‘Midwife’ translates literally as ‘with-woman’ – a reference to the role of a midwife in supporting a woman in childbirth. It also exists in ‘housewife’ (house-woman). We came close to losing ‘housewife’. ‘Huswif’, the early version of ‘housewife’, contracted to ‘huzzy’ and began to take on negative connotations of a woman who behaves in a brash, disrespectful or inappropriate way. To preserve the original, respectable meaning, the language shifted to a full pronunciation of the word ‘housewife’. At the same time ‘huzzy’ became ‘hussy’ and remained in the language along with its negative connotations.
By the 8th century ‘wif’ had become conjoined with ‘man’ to make ‘wif-man ’meaning female-person. As time passed the ‘f’ was lost and, eventually, ‘wif-man’ became ‘women’ or its singular form, ‘woman’. Notice we still pronounce ‘women’ as ‘wimmen’ retaining the original ‘i’ sound from ‘wif’.
A wife’s marital partner is her husband. Like ‘huswif’, the ‘hus’ in ‘husband’ means house. ‘Husband’ reached Britain via Old Norse, probably imported by Viking settlers. ‘Band’ roughly translates as ‘dweller’ making ‘husband’ literally ‘house-dweller’ although its Old English meaning was probably closer to ‘man of the house’. Surprisingly, the slang-shortened version of husband, ‘hubby’, dates way back to the 1680s.
That just leaves ‘male’ and ‘female’ to complete the sets of gender pairs – wif and wer, man and woman, husband and wife.
In spite of appearances, ‘male’ and ‘female’ are not etymologically related. In the 11th century the Norman French, under William the Bastard, invaded and conquered Britain. The linguistic outcome was a flood of Norman French words which came close to swamping, the now native, Old English.
‘Male’ arrived into English around the 14th century in more or less its present form and meaning. ‘Male’ was originally adopted into early French from its Latin equivalent.
‘Female’ derives from another 14th century French import, ‘femelle’. ‘Femelle’ also has Latin origins and appears to trace back to a term meaning ‘she who suckles’. The shift in English spelling from ‘femelle’ to ‘female’ was probably influenced by an (incorrect) association with ‘male’.
OB
Back in the mid-5th century a bunch of Germanic tribes crossed the North Sea as part of an invasion of Britain lasting several decades. This invasion largely displaced the local Celtic tribes pushing them to the west of the island into regions now known as Wales and Cornwall. The invaders also brought their own language, replacing native Celtic with a mix of related Germanic dialects (Angle, Saxon, Jute, Friesian) that we now know as Old English or Anglo Saxon.
One of the words these newcomers brought with them was ‘wer’ meaning adult male; the equivalent of the Modern English word ‘man’. The word ‘mann’ actually existed in Anglo Saxon but it had a broader meaning. Back then, ‘mann’ was a collective term for ‘people’ (male or female) or ‘human beings’. You can still hear this non-gendered meaning in words like ‘manslaughter’ or ‘mankind’ or phrases like ‘the ascent of man’. The gender-neutral version of ‘man’ is also retained in the word ‘woman’.
‘Wer’ practically vanished from English by the 13th century to be replaced by ‘man’ which gradually became the accepted word for a male adult - but ‘wer’ didn’t completely disappear. It hung around in history books in words like ‘wergild’ (man-payment); an old Anglo-Saxon term for compensation paid to relatives of a murder victim to avoid a blood feud. It also stuck around in the mythical ‘werewolf’ or ‘man – wolf’. ‘Werewolf’ or a similar form (weerwolf, varulf) is common to a number of Germanic languages.
While Old English ‘wer’ meant ‘man’ its female equivalent was ‘wif’ meaning ‘woman’. Over time ‘wif’ morphed into ‘wife’ (a married woman). You can still see the original sense of ‘woman’ in words like ‘midwife’. ‘Midwife’ translates literally as ‘with-woman’ – a reference to the role of a midwife in supporting a woman in childbirth. It also exists in ‘housewife’ (house-woman). We came close to losing ‘housewife’. ‘Huswif’, the early version of ‘housewife’, contracted to ‘huzzy’ and began to take on negative connotations of a woman who behaves in a brash, disrespectful or inappropriate way. To preserve the original, respectable meaning, the language shifted to a full pronunciation of the word ‘housewife’. At the same time ‘huzzy’ became ‘hussy’ and remained in the language along with its negative connotations.
By the 8th century ‘wif’ had become conjoined with ‘man’ to make ‘wif-man ’meaning female-person. As time passed the ‘f’ was lost and, eventually, ‘wif-man’ became ‘women’ or its singular form, ‘woman’. Notice we still pronounce ‘women’ as ‘wimmen’ retaining the original ‘i’ sound from ‘wif’.
A wife’s marital partner is her husband. Like ‘huswif’, the ‘hus’ in ‘husband’ means house. ‘Husband’ reached Britain via Old Norse, probably imported by Viking settlers. ‘Band’ roughly translates as ‘dweller’ making ‘husband’ literally ‘house-dweller’ although its Old English meaning was probably closer to ‘man of the house’. Surprisingly, the slang-shortened version of husband, ‘hubby’, dates way back to the 1680s.
That just leaves ‘male’ and ‘female’ to complete the sets of gender pairs – wif and wer, man and woman, husband and wife.
In spite of appearances, ‘male’ and ‘female’ are not etymologically related. In the 11th century the Norman French, under William the Bastard, invaded and conquered Britain. The linguistic outcome was a flood of Norman French words which came close to swamping, the now native, Old English.
‘Male’ arrived into English around the 14th century in more or less its present form and meaning. ‘Male’ was originally adopted into early French from its Latin equivalent.
‘Female’ derives from another 14th century French import, ‘femelle’. ‘Femelle’ also has Latin origins and appears to trace back to a term meaning ‘she who suckles’. The shift in English spelling from ‘femelle’ to ‘female’ was probably influenced by an (incorrect) association with ‘male’.
OB
