after a noun, "that might have been but is not," 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- (2) "hand." Also "defective, spoiled, missing" (1773). Compare obsolete or dialectal mank "maimed, mutilated, defective" (1510s), which seems to be a nativized form of the French word. Modern British slang manky "bad, inferior, defective" (by 1958) might also be from these.
