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Mannaz or Manwaz is the Proto-Germanic term for "man", in the gender-neutral sense of "person, human being".
The word developed into Old English man, mann "human being, person," (c.f. also German Mann, Old Norse maðr, Gothic manna "man").
It is derived from a PIE base *man- (c.f. Sanskrit/Avestan manu-, Russian muzh "man, male"). Sometimes, the word is connected with the root *men- "to think" (cognate to mind). Restricted use in the sense "adult male" only began to occur in late Old English, around 1000 AD, and the word formerly expressing male sex, wer had died out by 1300 (but survives in e.g. were-wolf). The original sense of the word is preserved in mankind, from Old English mancynn.
Mannaz is also the reconstructed name of the m-rune ᛗ.
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