Manling

//ˈmænlɪŋ// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A little man; a man of short stature.

    "Again, a man so gracious and in high favour with the Emperor, as Augustus often called him his witty manling (for the littleness of his stature), and, if we may trust antiquity, had designed him for a secretary of estate, and invited him to the palace, which he modestly prayed off and refused."

  2. 2
    A young man; a boy. literary

    "'Hah!' said Kaa with a chuckle, 'he has friends everywhere, this manling. Stand back, manling; and hide you, O Poison-People. I break down the wall.'"

Example

More examples

"Again, a man so gracious and in high favour with the Emperor, as Augustus often called him his witty manling (for the littleness of his stature), and, if we may trust antiquity, had designed him for a secretary of estate, and invited him to the palace, which he modestly prayed off and refused."

Etymology

From man + -ling.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.