masculine
Meaning
having qualities or an appearance traditionally associated with men
(in grammar) belonging to a class of words that refer to male people or animals and often have a special form
the masculine gender or a masculine word
Structure
Usage
She has a deep, masculine voice.
In French, the word for "sun" is masculine.
The film explores traditional ideas of the masculine and the feminine.
Etymology
The word 'masculine' traces its lineage directly to the Latin masculus, a diminutive form of mas meaning "male." This Latin root itself is derived from the Proto-Indo-European base mas-, which signified "man" or "male." The suffix '-ine' was attached in Latin to form the adjective masculinus, meaning "of or pertaining to a male." Over time, as the word passed into English via Old French, its meaning evolved from the purely biological sense of "male" to encompass the qualities and attributes stereotypically associated with men, reflecting cultural constructs of gender.
Analysis
'mascul' originates from Latin masculus, meaning "male, of the male sex." The suffix '-ine' is from Latin -inus, an adjectival suffix meaning "of or pertaining to, like."