Englishman

English

Alternative forms

• englishman (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English Englishman, Inglishman, from Old English Englisċman, Englisċmon, corresponding to English +‎ -man. Compare Old Norse Englismaðr (“Englishman”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪŋ.lɪʃ.mən/, /ˈɪŋ.ɡlɪʃ.mən/

• Audio (Southern England)

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Noun

Englishman (plural Englishmen)

1. A native or inhabitant of England; a man who is English by ancestry, birth, descent, or naturalisation.
   • c. 1541, The Chronicle of Calais, London, published 1846:

     the Ynglishe men had great vyctorye, for there was taken and slayne a greate nombar, and there was slayne the lorde Morley and Englishe man.

   • 1853, Saunterings in and about London. By Max Schlesinger. The English edition by Otto Wenckstern, London, page 278:

     To see twenty or thirty female Englishmen of full regulation-size dancing a ballet, is an overpowering luxury.

   • 1873, George Webbe Dasent, Jest an Earnest. A Collection of Essays and Reviews. In two Volumes. Vol. I, London, page 156:

     All Englishmen, male and female, young and old, are for the purposes of this establishment considered clean.

   • 1909, Rambles and Adventures in Australasia, Canada, India, etc. By St. Michael-Podmore, London, page 270:

     Rest assured it cannot rest idle until Englishmen, male, female, and children are mercilessly massacred to the best interests of the country.

   • 1931, Noel Coward, Mad Dogs and Englishmen:

     In Bangkok at twelve o'clock they foam at the mouth and run, / But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.

   • 2003 November 3, Richard Schickel, “Sweet Agonies of Affection”, in Time:

     He has his dark -- well, darkish -- side under control. Which is to say that he is an Englishman, well practiced in masking pain and absurdity and descents into sheer goofiness with mannerly behavior, sly irony and stiff upper lips.

   • 2014, Tim Carvell [et al.], “Scottish Independence”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 1, episode 17, John Oliver (actor), Warner Bros. Television, via HBO:

     Yea, but that’s not really a surprise, is it? She famously wrote a book where a redhead plays second fiddle to a magical Englishman. “Come along, Ron, come along. I shall have all the powers, and your brothers can die fighting my war. Come along.”

   • 2014 September 14, “Scottish Independence”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 1, episode 17, John Oliver (actor), via HBO:

     Also, for their national flower, the Scots chose a thistle. That is a plant made of tiny knives and a throwing star. “The only flower I like is a flower that can pierce an Englishman’s throat!”.

2. (UK) The grey partridge (in opposition to the Frenchman, i.e., the red-legged partridge).
3. (Quebec, dated, ethnic slur) A Canadian of British descent and/or whose first language is English (as opposed to French-descended, French-speaking Canadians).
   • 2017, David Bélanger, Béatrice G. Martineau, Charles Grenier, “Kona”, in Kona‎, Canada: Parabole:

     ... others, an aging Englishman who would do anything to further his fortune ...

4. (South Africa, dated, ethnic slur) A South African of British descent, and/or whose first language is English (as opposed to Afrikaans-speaking Afrikaner South Africans).
   • 2008, Christopher-Lee dos Santos, At thy Call‎, Dino Pappas and Ksenija Micic:

     Fucking above your head Englishman!

Synonyms

• (native of England): Englander, English (in the plural), Englisher (dated or humorous), Southron (Scots), Saxon (Wales, Ireland), pom, Nigel (Australia), overner (Isle of Wight)

Hypernyms

• (native of England): Brit, Briton

Hyponyms

• (native of England): Blimp, Little Englander, Middle Englander; Londoner, Cornishman, Midlander, Geordie

Coordinate terms

• (native of England): Englishwoman; Irishman, Scotsman, Welshman

Derived terms

• Englishmanly
• Englishman's knot

Translations