the.com/mankind
The species that names itself generously and behaves selectively.
means Human beings considered collectively, as a species or race.
from From Old English 'mancynn,' joining 'man' (which originally meant 'person,' not specifically 'male') with 'cynn' (kin, kind, race) — the same root that gives us 'kin' and 'kindred.' So the word was never built as 'man' plus 'kind of men'; it was 'the kin of humans,' a collective noun for the whole breed. The later narrowing of 'man' toward 'adult male' happened separately in the language, which is why 'mankind' now sounds gendered to modern ears even though its own architecture was originally inclusive.
- origin
- old english mann meant person, not male
- usage shift
- humankind rose as gender neutrality took hold
- space plaque
- one small step for man, giant leap for mankind
- irony
- half of mankind excluded by its own name