- macho
- 1928 (n.) "tough guy," from Sp. macho "male animal," as an adj., "masculine, virile," from L. masculus (see masculine). First attested in Eng. as an adj. 1959.
- machismo
- 1940, from Amer.Sp. machismo, from Sp. macho "male" (see macho) + ismo "-ism."
- machete
- 1590s (in pseudo-Sp. form macheto), from Sp. machete, probably a dim. of macho "sledge hammer," alteration of mazo "club," probably a dialectal variant of maza "mallet," from V.L. *mattea "war club" (see mace (1)). Alternative explanation traces macho to L. marculus "a small hammer," dim. of marcus "hammer," from a base parallel to that of L. malleus (see mallet).
- Rambo
- used allusively from 1985, in ref. to John Rambo, hero of David Morrell's novel "First Blood" (1972), popularized as portrayed by Sylvester Stallone in Hollywood movie version (1982), a U.S. Vietnam veteran, macho and self-sufficient, intent on vengeance. The family name is an old one in N.J. and Pennsylvania colonies of the U.S., originally Swedish, sometimes said to represent Swed. place name Ramberget, or to be from Fr. Huguenots who took refuge in Sweden.
- male (n.)
- 1373, from O.Fr. masle (Fr. mâle), from L. masculus "masculine, male" (cf. Prov. mascle, Sp. macho, It. maschio), dim. of mas (gen. maris) "male person or animal, male." Mechanical sense of "part of an instrument that penetrates another part" is from 1856.