Meaning

adjective possessing qualities befitting a man

adjective characteristic of a man

adverb in a manful manner; with qualities thought to befit a man

originFrom Middle English manli, manlich, manly, from Old English *manlīċ (suggested by adverb manlīċe (“in a way befitting a person; nobly, stately”)), from Proto-West Germanic *mannlīk, from Proto-Germanic *mannlīkaz, equivalent to man + -ly (adjectival suffix). Cognate with Old High German manlīh (“manly”) (whence German männlich), Dutch mannelijk, Old Norse mannligr (“human”) (Danish mandlig,…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0