Man vs. Woman — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on October 5, 2023
A man is an adult male human, while a woman is an adult female human.
Difference Between Man and Woman
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Man typically refers to the mature male human, often used in contrast to younger male individuals or to women. This distinction has cultural, biological, and social facets that have evolved over time.
Woman signifies an adult female human, and this distinction from man is prominent in societal roles, biological functions, and gender expectations. Traditionally, women were associated with nurturing roles and caregiving, although such perceptions have evolved in modern societies.
Historically, the roles and rights associated with men and women have varied, and often, men held dominant roles in societal hierarchies. Over time, especially in more recent decades, there has been a significant push towards equality, acknowledging the capabilities and rights of both men and women.
Both "man" and "woman" can be used in broader contexts. For instance, "mankind" refers to humanity as a whole, whereas terms like "womanhood" relate to the qualities or attributes associated with women. Regardless of the setting, the distinction between man and woman remains foundational in understanding human biology, culture, and society.
Comparison Chart
Biological Gender
Male.
Female.
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Chromosomes
XY.
XX.
Reproductive Role
Produces sperm.
Produces eggs and can bear offspring.
Secondary Characteristics
Broader shoulders, facial hair.
Wider hips, breast development.
Cultural/Social Role
Traditionally associated with roles like providing or leadership.
Traditionally linked to nurturing or caregiving roles.
Compare with Definitions
Man
A term symbolizing humans in general.
Man has always looked to the stars.
Woman
A female person associated with a specific activity or occupation.
She is a businesswoman.
Man
A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent).
Woman
A term representing female characteristics or attributes.
The essence of womanhood.
Man
A human or an adult male human belonging to a specific occupation, group, nationality, or other category. Often used in combination
A milkman.
A congressman.
A freeman.
Woman
A female figure representing a group or cause.
She's the woman who initiated the movement.
Man
The human race; mankind
Man's quest for peace.
Woman
Used to emphasize a particular quality of a female individual.
She's the woman for the job.
Man
A male human endowed with qualities, such as strength, considered characteristic of manhood.
Woman
A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent).
Man
A husband.
Woman
An adult female human.
Man
A male lover or sweetheart.
Woman
Women considered as a group; womankind
Man
Workers.
Woman
An adult female human belonging to a specified occupation, group, nationality, or other category. Often used in combination
An Englishwoman.
Congresswoman.
A saleswoman.
Man
Enlisted personnel of the armed forces
Officers and men.
Woman
A female servant or subordinate.
Man
A male representative, as of a country or company
Our man in Tokyo.
Woman
A wife.
Man
A male servant or subordinate.
Woman
A female lover or sweetheart. See Usage Notes at chairman, female, lady, man.
Man
(Informal) Used as a familiar form of address for a man
See here, my good man!.
Woman
An adult female human.
Man
One who swore allegiance to a lord in the Middle Ages; a vassal.
Woman
(collective) All female humans collectively; womankind.
Man
(Games) Any of the pieces used in a board game, such as chess or checkers.
Woman
A female person, usually an adult; a (generally adult) female sentient being, whether human, supernatural, elf, alien, etc.
Man
(Nautical) A ship. Often used in combination
A merchantman.
A man-of-war.
Woman
A wife (or sometimes a fiancée or girlfriend).
Man
Often Man(Slang) A person or group felt to be in a position of power or authority. Used with the
"Their writing mainly concerns the street life—the pimp, the junky, the forces of drug addiction, exploitation at the hands of 'the man'" (Black World).
Woman
A female person who is extremely fond of or devoted to a specified type of thing. Used as the last element of a compound.
Man
To supply with men, as for defense or service
Man a ship.
Woman
A female attendant or servant.
Man
To take stations at, as to defend or operate
Manned the guns.
Woman
To staff with female labor.
Man
To fortify or brace
Manned himself for the battle ahead.
Woman
(transitive) To make effeminate or womanish.
Man
Used as an expletive to indicate intense feeling
Man! That was close.
Woman
(transitive) To furnish with, or unite to, a woman.
Man
An adult male human.
The show is especially popular with middle-aged men.
Woman
(transitive) To call (a person) "woman" in a disrespectful fashion.
Man
(collective) All human males collectively: mankind.
Woman
Of or relating to a woman/women; female.
Man
A human, a person regardless of gender, usually an adult. See usage notes.
Every man for himself
Woman
An adult female person; a grown-up female person, as distinguished from a man or a child; sometimes, any female person.
Women are soft, mild pitiful, and flexible.
And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman.
I have observed among all nations that the women ornament themselves more than the men; that, wherever found, they are the same kind, civil, obliging, humane, tender beings, inclined to be gay and cheerful, timorous and modest.
Man
(collective) All humans collectively: mankind, humankind, humanity. Sometimes capitalized as Man.
Woman
The female part of the human race; womankind.
Man is destined to be a prey to woman.
Man
A member of the genus Homo, especially of the species Homo sapiens.
Woman
A female attendant or servant.
Man
A male person, usually an adult; a (generally adult male) sentient being, whether human, supernatural, elf, alien, etc.
Woman
To act the part of a woman in; - with indefinite it.
Man
An adult male who has, to an eminent degree, qualities considered masculine, such as strength, integrity, and devotion to family; a mensch.
Woman
To make effeminate or womanish.
Man
Manliness; the quality or state of being manly.
Woman
To furnish with, or unite to, a woman.
Man
A husband.
Woman
An adult female person (as opposed to a man);
The woman kept house while the man hunted
Man
A male lover; a boyfriend.
Woman
Women as a class;
It's an insult to American womanhood
Woman is the glory of creation
Man
A male enthusiast or devotee; a male who is very fond of or devoted to a specified kind of thing. Used as the last element of a compound.
Some people prefer apple pie, but me, I’m a cherry pie man.
Woman
A human female who does housework;
The char will clean the carpet
Man
A person, usually male, who has duties or skills associated with a specified thing. Used as the last element of a compound.
I wanted to be a guitar man on a road tour, but instead I’m a flag man on a road crew.
Woman
A female person who plays a significant role (wife or mistress or girlfriend) in the life of a particular man;
He was faithful to his woman
Man
A person, usually male, who can fulfill one's requirements with regard to a specified matter.
Man
A male who belongs to a particular group: an employee, a student or alumnus, a representative, etc.
Man
An adult male servant.
Man
(historical) A vassal; a subject.
All the king's men
Man
A piece or token used in board games such as chess.
Man
(sports) A player on whom another is playing, with the intent of limiting their attacking impact.
Man
: I, we; construed in the third person.
Man
Any person, one
Man
(transitive) To supply (something) with staff or crew.
The ship was manned with a small crew.
Man
(transitive) To take up position in order to operate (something).
Man the machine guns!
Man
To brace (oneself), to fortify or steel (oneself) in a manly way. Compare man up.
Man
To wait on, attend to or escort.
Man
To accustom (a raptor or other type of bird) to the presence of people.
Man
A human being; - opposed to beast.
These men went about wide, and man found they none,But fair country, and wild beast many [a] one.
The king is but a man, as I am; the violet smells to him as it doth to me.
'Tain't a fit night out for man nor beast!
Man
An adult male person; a grown-up male person, as distinguished from a woman or a child.
When I became a man, I put away childish things.
Ceneus, a woman once, and once a man.
Man
The human race; mankind.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion.
The proper study of mankind is man.
Man
The male portion of the human race.
Woman has, in general, much stronger propensity than man to the discharge of parental duties.
Man
One possessing in a high degree the distinctive qualities of manhood; one having manly excellence of any kind.
This was the noblest Roman of them all . . . the elementsSo mixed in him that Nature might stand upAnd say to all the world "This was a man!"
Man
An adult male servant; also, a vassal; a subject.
Like master, like man.
The vassal, or tenant, kneeling, ungirt, uncovered, and holding up his hands between those of his lord, professed that he did become his man from that day forth, of life, limb, and earthly honor.
Man
A term of familiar address at one time implying on the part of the speaker some degree of authority, impatience, or haste; as, Come, man, we 've no time to lose! In the latter half of the 20th century it became used in a broader sense as simply a familiar and informal form of address, but is not used in business or formal situations; as, hey, man! You want to go to a movie tonight?.
Man
A married man; a husband; - correlative to wife.
I pronounce that they are man and wife.
Every wife ought to answer for her man.
Man
One, or any one, indefinitely; - a modified survival of the Saxon use of man, or mon, as an indefinite pronoun.
A man can not make him laugh.
A man would expect to find some antiquities; but all they have to show of this nature is an old rostrum of a Roman ship.
Man
One of the piece with which certain games, as chess or draughts, are played.
Man
To supply with men; to furnish with a sufficient force or complement of men, as for management, service, defense, or the like; to guard; as, to man a ship, boat, or fort.
See how the surly Warwick mans the wall !
They man their boats, and all their young men arm.
Man
To furnish with strength for action; to prepare for efficiency; to fortify.
Man
To tame, as a hawk.
Man
To furnish with a servant or servants.
Man
To wait on as a manservant.
Man
An adult male person (as opposed to a woman);
There were two women and six men on the bus
Man
Someone who serves in the armed forces; a member of a military force;
Two men stood sentry duty
Man
The generic use of the word to refer to any human being;
It was every man for himself
Man
All of the inhabitants of the earth;
All the world loves a lover
She always used `humankind' because `mankind' seemed to slight the women
Man
Any living or extinct member of the family Hominidae
Man
A male subordinate;
The chief stationed two men outside the building
He awaited word from his man in Havana
Man
An adult male person who has a manly character (virile and courageous competent);
The army will make a man of you
Man
A male person who plays a significant role (husband or lover or boyfriend) in the life of a particular woman;
She takes good care of her man
Man
A manservant who acts as a personal attendant to his employer;
Jeeves was Bertie Wooster's man
Man
One of the British Isles in the Irish Sea
Man
Game equipment consisting of an object used in playing certain board games;
He taught me to set up the men on the chess board
He sacrificed a piece to get a strategic advantage
Man
Take charge of a certain job; occupy a certain work place;
Mr. Smith manned the reception desk in the morning
Man
Provide with men;
We cannot man all the desks
Man
A male person associated with a particular activity or occupation.
He's a family man.
Man
A male figure representing a group or cause.
He's the man behind the organization's success.
Man
A term used colloquially to address someone.
Hey, man! How've you been?
Common Curiosities
Can "man" refer to humanity in general?
Yes, terms like "mankind" refer to humans as a whole.
How do "boy" and "man" differ?
"Boy" denotes a young male, while "man" refers to an adult male.
Do both man and woman have XY chromosomes?
No, men have XY and women have XX chromosomes.
What's the counterpart to "manhood"?
The counterpart to "manhood" is "womanhood."
Do men and women have distinct biological roles?
Biologically, men produce sperm, and women produce eggs and can bear children.
What's the difference between "man" and "male"?
"Man" denotes an adult human male, while "male" is a broader term for any male organism.
Are "man" and "woman" solely biological terms?
While rooted in biology, "man" and "woman" also encompass social and cultural aspects.
Are the terms "man" and "woman" universal across cultures?
The concepts are universal, but cultural perceptions and roles associated with men and women vary.
How do "girl" and "woman" differ?
"Girl" denotes a young female, while "woman" refers to an adult female.
Are gender roles for men and women fixed?
No, gender roles have evolved over time and vary by culture.
What's the plural of "woman"?
The plural of "woman" is "women."
Can "woman" be used in professional contexts?
Yes, terms like "businesswoman" are common.
Are terms "man" and "woman" changing in modern contexts?
Yes, societal shifts are leading to evolving definitions and perceptions of gender and identity.
Can "man" be used colloquially among friends?
Yes, "man" can be used as an informal address among acquaintances.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
