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Glite Dictionary
🙄 An immature man 🧒 A boy
manchild

manchild

9.9
A boy often in old stories or poems
  • noun
  • /ˈmænˌtʃaɪld/
  • Archaic
translation icon : mancebo
  • In the story, the young boy dreams of adventure, embodying the spirit of a manchild in an enchanted land.

Examples

  • He candidly reflects in one of his college notebooks of 1859 that "Emerson is the manchild and he does men great service by just opening himself to them....

    Academic text (2017)

  • You could call it "The Manchild."

    Blog text (22)

  • Brown, C. 1965. Manchild in the Promised Land. New York: New York American Library.

    Academic text (2009)

  • The poem describes a manchild, lost in his thoughts while exploring the wonders of nature.

  • As a manchild, he often played with toys long after his friends had moved on to adulthood.

Synonyms

son
vsmanchild
∞ 1.0

A male child of his parents

is a more general male child term not focused on parental relation
boy
vsmanchild
∞ 1.0

A young male who is not yet an adult

is the archaic or literary term for the same male child meaning
lad
vsmanchild
  • UK
618 1.1

People use it for a boy or young man when they speak in a friendly way

is archaic or literary and denotes a male child rather than an adult male
kidling
vsmanchild
  • Archaic
9.9

A young child in old or local language

is specifically male and literary rather than a general child term

Antonyms

man
∞ 1.0

An adult male person, not a boy or a woman

Surface Forms

manchild singular
manchildren plural

Morphology

manchild = man + child (transparent) = man + child

The meaning is a literal combination of 'man' + 'child' (a male child), so a learner who knows the components can derive the sense.

Etymology

Manchild is simply made of man and child, so it literally names a 'male child' or boy. It is often used in old or poetic stories to give a strong, mythic feel.