Online Etymology Dictionary

manilla (1): variant of Manila, especially in manilla paper (1832).
manilla (2): "ring, bracelet," from Spanish manilla, from Latin monilia, plural of monile "collar, necklace" (see mane). Influenced in Spanish by Spanish mano "hand."
manioc (n.): 1560s, from Tupi manioch, mandioca, name for the root of the cassava plant.
manipulable (adj.): 1859, from manipulate + -able. Related: Manipulability.
manipulate (v.): 1827, "to handle skillfully by hand," a back-formation from manipulation. Of mental influence, from 1864. Financial sense is from 1870. In mid-20c., it served as a euphemism for "masturbation." Related: Manipulated; manipulating.
manipulation (n.): c.1730, a method of digging ore, from French manipulation, from manipule "handful" (a pharmacists' measure), from Latin manipulus "handful, sheaf, bundle," from manus "hand" (see manual) + root of plere "to fill" (see pleio-). Sense of "skillful handling of objects" is first recorded 1826; extended 1828 to "handling of persons" as well as objects.
manipulative (adj.): 1816, in literal sense, from manipulate + -ive. Related: Manipulatively; manipulativeness.
manipulator (n.): 1804, from manipulate with Latin agent noun ending. Perhaps formed on model of French manipulateur (1783).
Manitoba: Canadian province, named for the lake, which was named for an island in the lake; from Algonquian manitou "great spirit."
manitou (n.): also manito, "spirit, deity, supernatural being," 1690s, from a word found throughout the Algonquian languages (cf. Delaware manutoow, Ojibwa manidoo), first in English from Unami Delaware /manet:u/.
mankiller (n.): also man-killer, early 15c., from man (n.) + killer. Old English words for this were manslaga, manslieht.
mankind (n.): "the human race," c.1300, earlier man-kende (early 13c.), from man (n.) + kind (n.). Replaced Old English mancynn "human race." Also used occasionally in Middle English for "male persons" (late 14c.), but otherwise preserving the original gender neutrality of man (n.). For "menfolk, the male sex," menkind (late 14c.) and menskind (1590s) have been used.
manliness (n.): late 14c., from manly + -ness.
manly (adj.): c.1200, "human; characteristic of human beings," from man (n.) + -ly (1). Sense of "possessing virtues proper to a male person" (resoluteness, steadfastness, reliability) is from early 13c. Meaning "masculine" is attested from late 14c. Old English had werlic "male, masculine, manly."
manmade (adj.): also man-made, c.1718, from man (n.) + made. In early use typically of institutions, etc., and opposed to what is natural or god-made. Of fibers, foodstuffs, etc., from mid-20c.
manna (n.): Old English borrowing from Late Latin manna, from Greek manna, from Hebrew man, probably literally "substance exuded by the tamarisk tree," but used in Greek and Latin specifically with reference to the substance miraculously supplied to the Children of Israel during their wandering in the Wilderness (Ex. xvi:15). Meaning "spiritual nourishment" is attested from late 14c. Generalized sense of "something provided unexpectedly" is from 1590s.
mannequin (n.): 1902, "model to display clothes," from French mannequin (15c.), from Dutch manneken (see manikin). A French form of the same word that yielded manikin, and sometimes mannequin was used in English in a sense "artificial man" (especially in translations of Hugo). Originally of persons, in a sense where we might use "model."
A mannequin is a good-looking, admirably formed young lady, whose mission is to dress herself in her employer's latest "creations," and to impart to them the grace which only perfect forms can give. Her grammar may be bad, and her temper worse, but she must have the chic the Parisienne possesses, no matter whether she hails from the aristocratic Faubourg St. Germain or from the Faubourg Montmartre. ["The Bystander," Aug. 15, 1906]
Later (by 1939) of artificial model figures to display clothing.
manner (n.): c.1200, "kind, sort, variety," from Anglo-French manere, Old French maniere "fashion, method, manner, way; appearance, bearing; custom" (12c., Modern French manière), from Vulgar Latin *manaria (source of Spanish manera, Portuguese maneira, Italian maniera), from fem. of Latin manuarius "belonging to the hand," from manus "hand" (see manual (adj.)). The French word was borrowed by other Germanic languages, e.g. Dutch manier, German manier, Swedish maner.

Meaning "customary practice" is from c.1300. Senses of "way of doing something; a personal habit or way of doing; way of conducting oneself toward others" are from c.1300. Meaning "specific nature, form, way something happens" is mid-14c. Of literature from 1660s. Most figurative meanings derive from the original sense "method of handling" which was extended when the word was used to translate Latin modus "method." Phrase manner of speaking is recorded from 1530s. To the manner born ("Hamlet" I iv.15) generally is used incorrectly and means "destined by birth to be subject to the custom."
mannered (adj.): mid-15c., "having manners" of one kind or another, from manner. Later, especially, "well-mannered." Cf. mannerable "well-mannered" (late 15c.).
mannerism (n.): "excessive use of distinctive methods in art or literature," 1803, from manner + -ism. Meaning "an instance of mannerism, habitual peculiarity" is from 1819. Related: Mannerisms.
mannerist (n.): 1690s in the artistic sense; see mannerism + -ist.
mannerly (adj.): "well-mannered, seemly, modest," late 14c., from manner (n.) + -ly (1). As an adverb, "in accord with custom; becomingly" (mid-14c.); later "in accord with good manners" (c.1400). Related: Mannerliness.
manners (n.): "external behavior (especially polite behavior) in social intercourse," late 14c., plural of manner.
Under bad manners, as under graver faults, lies very commonly an overestimate of our special individuality, as distinguished from our generic humanity. [Oliver W. Holmes, "The Professor at the Breakfast Table," 1858]
Earlier it meant "moral character" (early 13c.).
mannish (adj.): Old English mennisc "human, human-like, natural," from Proto-Germanic *manniska- (cf. Old Saxon mannisc, Old High German mennisc, Gothic mannisks), from *manna- (see man (n.)). In some cases a new formation from man (n.) + -ish.

Sense of "masculine" is from late 14c.; in reference to women seen as masculine, from late 14c. Of adult males (opposed to childish) from 1520s. Related: Mannishly; mannishness. The proto-Germanic adjective became, in some languages, a noun meaning "human" (cf. German Mensch), and in Old English mannish also was used as a noun "mankind, folk, race, people."
mano a mano: 1970s, Spanish, literally "hand-to-hand."
manoeuvre: also manoeuver, alternative spelling of maneuver. Also see oe; -re. Related: manoeuvres; manoeuvred; manoeuvring.
manometer (n.): 1730, from French manomètre (1706), said to have been coined by French mathematician Pierre Varignon (1654-1722) from Greek manos "thin, rare; loose in texture, porous; scanty, few" (see mono-) + -mètre (see -meter). Related: Manometric.
manor (n.): late 13c., "mansion, habitation, country residence, principal house of an estate," from Anglo-French maner, Old French manoir "abode, home, dwelling place; manor" (12c.), noun use of maneir "to dwell," from Latin manere "to stay, abide," from PIE root *men- "to remain" (see mansion). As a unit of territorial division in Britain and some American colonies (usually "land held in demesne by a lord, with tenants") it is attested from 1530s.
manorial (adj.): 1785, from manor + -al (1).
manpower (n.): 1855, from man (n.) + power (n.). Proposed in 1824 as a specific unit of measure of power.
manque (adj.): 1778, from French manqué (fem. manquée), past participle of manquer "to miss, be lacking" (16c.), from Italian mancare, from manco, from Latin mancus "maimed, defective," from PIE *man-ko- "maimed in the hand," from root *man- "hand" (see manual (adj.)).
mansard: 1734, from French mansarde, short for toit à la mansarde, a corrupt spelling, named for French architect Nicholas François Mansart (1598-1666), who made use of them.
manse (n.): late 15c., "mansion house," from Medieval Latin mansus "dwelling house; amount of land sufficient for a family," noun use of masculine past participle of Latin manere "to remain" (see mansion).
manservant (n.): also man-servant, 1550s, from man (n.) + servant.
mansion (n.): mid-14c., "chief residence of a lord," from Old French mansion "stay, permanent abode, house, habitation, home; mansion; state, situation" (13c.), from Latin mansionem (nominative mansio) "a staying, a remaining, night quarters, station," noun of action from past participle stem of manere "to stay, abide," from PIE *men- "to remain, wait for" (cf. Greek menein "to remain," Persian mandan "to remain"). Sense of "any large and stately house" is from 1510s. The word also was used in Middle English as "a stop or stage of a journey," hence probably astrological sense "temporary home" (late 14c.).
manslaughter (n.): mid-14c., " act, crime, or sin of killing another human being," in battle or not, from man (n.) + slaughter (n.). Replaced Old English mannslæht (Anglian), mannslieht (West Saxon), from slæht, slieht "act of killing" (see slay). Etymologically identical with homicide, but in legal use usually distinguished from murder and restricted to "simple homicide."
mansuetude (n.): "tameness, gentleness, mildness," late 14c., from Latin mansuetudo "tameness, mildness, gentleness," noun of state from past participle stem of mansuescere "to tame," literally "to accustom to the hand," from manus "hand" (see manual (adj.)) + suescere "to accustom, habituate," from PIE *swdh-sko-, from root *s(w)e- (see idiom).
manta (n.): very large ray (also called devilfish), 1760, from Spanish manta "blanket" (which is attested in English from 1748 in this sense, specifically in reference to a type of wrap or cloak worn by Spaniards), from Late Latin mantum "cloak," back-formation from Latin mantellum "cloak" (see mantle (n.)). The ray so called "for being broad and long like a quilt" [Jorge Juan and Antonio de Ulloa, "A Voyage to South America"].
manteau (n.): "cloak, mantle," 1670s, from French manteau, from Old French mantel (see mantle).
mantel (n.): c.1200, "short, loose, sleeveless cloak," variant of mantle (q.v.). Sense of "movable shelter for soldiers besieging a fort" is from 1520s. Meaning "timber or stone supporting masonry above a fireplace" first recorded 1510s, a shortened form of Middle English mantiltre "mantletree" (late 15c.).
mantelpiece (n.): 1680s, from mantel + piece (n.).
mantic (adj.): 1850, from Greek mantikos "prophetic, oracular, of or for a soothsayer," from mantis "prophet," literally "one touched by divine madness" (see mantis). Related: Mantical (1580s).
manticore (n.): fabulous monster with the body of a lion, head of a man, porcupine quills, and tail or sting of a scorpion, c.1300, from Latin manticora, from Greek mantikhoras, corruption of martikhoras, perhaps from Iranian compound *mar-tiya-khvara "man-eater;" cf. Old Persian maritya- "man" (from PIE *mar-t-yo-, from *mer- "to die," thus "mortal, human;" see mortal (adj.)) + kvar- "to eat," from PIE root *swel- "to eat, drink" (see swallow).
mantilla (n.): type of large veil, 1717, from Spanish mantilla, diminutive of manta (see manta).
mantis (n.): 1650s, "type of insect that holds its forelegs in a praying position" (especially the praying mantis, Mantis religiosa), Modern Latin, from Greek mantis, literally "one who divines, a seer, prophet," from mainesthai "be inspired," related to menos "passion, spirit" (see mania). The insect so called for its way of holding the forelimbs as if in prayer. Also used in Greek for some sort of grasshopper (Theocritus).
mantissa (n.): decimal part of a logarithm, 1865, from Latin mantisa "a worthless addition, makeweight," perhaps a Gaulish word introduced into Latin via Etruscan (cf. Old Irish meit, Welsh maint "size").
mantle (n.): Old English mentel "loose, sleeveless cloak," from Latin mantellum "cloak" (source of Italian mantello, Old High German mantal, German Mantel, Old Norse mötull), perhaps from a Celtic source. Reinforced and altered 12c. by cognate Old French mantel "cloak, mantle; bedspread, cover" (Modern French manteau), also from the Latin source. Figurative sense "that which enshrouds" is from c.1300. Allusive use for "symbol of literary authority or artistic pre-eminence" is from Elijah's mantle [2 Kings ii:13]. As a layer of the earth between the crust and core (though not originally distinguished from the core) it is attested from 1940.
mantle (v.): "to wrap in a mantle," early 13c.; figurative use from mid-15c., from mantle (n.) or from Old French manteler. Related: Mantled; mantling.
mantra (n.): 1808, "that part of the Vedas which contains hymns," from Sanskrit mantra-s "sacred message or text, charm, spell, counsel," literally "instrument of thought," related to manyate "thinks," from PIE root *men- "to think" (see mind (n.)). Sense of "special word used for meditation" is first recorded in English 1956.
mantua (n.): loose gown worn by women 17c.-18c., 1670s, from French manteau "cloak, mantle," from Old French mantel (see mantle); form influenced in English by Mantua, name of a city in Italy. Mantua-maker (1690s) became the general early 19c. term for "dressmaker."