In Old English the principal sense of man was "a human," and the words wer and wyf (or wæpman and wifman) were used to refer to "a male human" and "a female human" respectively.
在古英語中的 man 字, 主要的意義是 一個人, 包括男女, 並不專指男人; 而 wer and wyf ( 或 wæpman and wifman ) 被用來分別指 一個男性人類 和 一個女性人類.
[Middle English, from Old English mann; see man-1 in Indo-European roots.]
Usage Note: Traditionally, many writers have used man and words derived from it to designate any or all of the human race regardless of sex. In fact, this is the oldest use of the word. In Old English the principal sense of man was "a human," and the words wer and wyf (or wæpman and wifman) were used to refer to "a male human" and "a female human" respectively. But in Middle English man displaced wer as the term for "a male human," while wyfman (which evolved into present-day woman) was retained for "a female human." Despite this change, man continued to carry its original sense of "a human" as well, resulting in an asymmetrical arrangement that many criticize as sexist.
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