maður

Inherited from Old Norse maðr, from Proto-Germanic *mann-, probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mánu- (“person”), *man-.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛaːvʊɹ/
  • (Fugloy) IPA^(key): [mɛːvʊɹ]
• Rhymes: -ɛaːvʊɹ
• Homophone: magur

maður m (genitive singular mans, plural menn)

1. man, male
2. husband
3. human being, people, man (generic)
4. sailor
5. member of a group
6. (chess) chessman (except pawns)

• (antonym(s) of “man, male”): kvinna
• (antonym(s) of “husband”): kona

• mann (archaic, obsolete, 14th-17th/18th c.)

Inherited from Old Norse maðr, from Proto-Germanic *mann-, probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mánu- (“person”), *man-.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaðʏr/, [ˈmäːð̠˕ʏr̥]

  Audio (Iceland, Kópavogur):

  (file)

  Rhymes: -aːðʏr

maður m (genitive singular manns, nominative plural menn)

1. human being, person, humanity, mankind, man (generic)

   Synonym: manneskja

   Það tilheyrir náttúru mannsins að hata þá sem hann hefur sært.

   It's a part of nature of man to hate those that he has hurt.

   • Timothy 2:11-12 (English, Icelandic)
2. man, adult male individual

   Synonyms: karlmaður, karl

   Ég sá mann úti á götu.

   I saw a man out on the street

   Þá sendi Benhadad menn til að njósna. Þeir sögðu honum svo frá: "Menn fara út frá Samaríu."

   and Ben-hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria. 1 Kings 20:17

3. (mainly used with a definite article) husband

   Synonym: eiginmaður

   Þetta er Geir, maðurinn minn.

   This is Geir, my husband.

4. (chess) chess piece, chessman

   Synonyms: taflmaður, karl

   Færðu manninn þinn.

   Move your piece.

• Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989) Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, →ISBN (Available at Málið.is under the “Eldri orðabækur” tab.)
• Kristín Bjarnadóttir, editor (2002–2025), “maður”, in Beygingarlýsing íslensks nútímamáls [The Database of Modern Icelandic Inflection] (in Icelandic), Reykjavík: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies
• Mörður Árnason (2019) Íslensk orðabók, 5th edition, Reykjavík: Forlagið
• “maður” in the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic (in Icelandic) and ISLEX (in the Nordic languages)

maður m (genitive singular manns, no plural)

1. one, you

   Maður gerir þetta svona.

   You do it like this./One does it like this.

   Manni líður eins og maður sé að taka crazy pills.

   One feels like one's taking crazy pills.

• The pronoun maður declines as the noun, but cannot take the definite article.
• It is placed in a clause in the same way as the noun, but the difference is in the stress: as a pronoun, it never takes the main stress in a sentence.
• It also cannot be substituted with the pronoun hann due to being a pronoun itself. Usage of þú for the fourth person is proscribed.

• maður veit aldrei (“one never knows”)
• koma til dyranna eins og maður er klæddur

• eiginkona
• kona

• Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989) Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, →ISBN (Available at Málið.is under the “Eldri orðabækur” tab.)
• Kristín Bjarnadóttir, editor (2002–2025), “maður”, in Beygingarlýsing íslensks nútímamáls [The Database of Modern Icelandic Inflection] (in Icelandic), Reykjavík: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies
• Mörður Árnason (2019) Íslensk orðabók, 5th edition, Reykjavík: Forlagið
• “maður” in the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic (in Icelandic) and ISLEX (in the Nordic languages)