Since "man" is for male....?

Question:,,, and "woman" is for female.....

Have you ever wondered what this "wo" added to "man" to make the "woman", signifies??

I suspect this "wo" should have a meaning so strong, to have the ability to specify a gender.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: ,,, and "woman" is for female.....

Have you ever wondered what this "wo" added to "man" to make the "woman", signifies??

I suspect this "wo" should have a meaning so strong, to have the ability to specify a gender.

since male (human being) became homo sapience
maybe "wo" is taked out from"woman" to made "man",who knows?hahaha..
no,realy,there is an answer:The English term "Man" (from Proto-Germanic mannaz "man, person") and words derived therefrom can designate any or even all of the human race regardless of their gender or age. This is indeed the oldest usage of "Man" in English. It derives from Proto-Indo-European *mánu- 'man, human', cognate to Sanskrit manu, Old Church Slavonic m???, 'man', 'husband'.

In Old English the words wer and wyf (also w?pman and wifman) were what was used to refer to "a man" and "a woman" respectively, and "Man" was gender neutral. In Middle English man displaced wer as term for "male human", whilst wifman (which eventually evolved into woman) was retained for "female human". ("Wif" also evolved into the word "wife".) "Man" does continue to carry its original sense of "Human" however, resulting in an asymmetry sometimes criticized as sexist. (See also Womyn.)
http://www.reference.com/search?q=woman

I came across that some time ago, but I don't really think is that much of a deal.

Wo:Woman::Fe:Female

wo is where in german.......
Wo bist du jetzt?

Whoa, man!

Woe - man.

i know....
that really made me think..
hmm..

It goes back to the beginning of time. God created man and woman and called it good. Its in Genesis chapter 1.

Then "wo" must be the same as "fe"!

hehe the wo goes for the boobs the female has!!! its funny no....wooooww so womane

it's the abbreviation of "woods". of course, it's all about the deep woods of knowledge :D

I wonder if it is derived from Womb? Good point about the singling out.

Don't you get it, is what we say when we see one of them.
Wo, man check her out.

I just came across something that I am totallly appalled with (I am a female as you can tell)

One website claims that the "wo" in woman is Latin for "Less than" . Here is the source http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/Wom...

It's from Old English...

"Wimman" is a derivative of "wifman", which is a combination of "wife" plus "man" (indicating a person, as opposed to a gender).

From www.dictionary.com:
Online Etymology Dictionary
woman
late O.E. wimman (pl. wimmen), lit. "woman-man," alteration of wifman (pl. wifmen), a compound of wif "woman" (see wife) + man "human being" (in O.E. used in ref. to both sexes; see man). Cf. Du. vrouwmens "wife," lit. "woman-man." The formation is peculiar to Eng. and Du. Replaced older O.E. wif, quean as the word for "female human being." The pronunciation of the singular altered in M.E. by the rounding influence of -w-; the plural retains the original vowel. Meaning "wife," now largely restricted to U.S. dial. use, is attested from c.1450. Women's liberation is attested from 1966; women's rights is from 1840, with an isolated example in 1632. Verb womanize originally (1593) meant "to make effeminate;" sense of "to chase women, to go wenching" is attested from 1893.

(Shrugs) ...because women have WOmbs(which is latin for Uterus)?

God created man and realized man would probably kill himself if left alone so God created woman. A man will actually think up something stupid to do and a woman will come along and stop him and save his life....Woe...man.

Here's your answer: It simply means that woman was "taken from" Adam's rib to be made into a woman.

Genesis 2:23 ?And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

I also found this little poem; I don't necessarily agree with it, but I got a chuckle from it:

A rib was taken, of which the Lord did make
The woe of man, so termed by Adam then
"Wo-man," for that by her came sin to us;
And for her sin was Adam doomed to die.

And this little note:
Woman was taken from that side of the first man which was nearest his heart, to the end that she might be loved by him cordially and tenderly
God ... was pleased to ordain that the woman should depend upon the man, being bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, and that she should be made of a rib taken from under his arm, to show that she ought to be under the hand and guidance of her husband.

I will not create her from the head for she may carry herself haughtily; nor from the eye for she may be too inquisitive; nor from the ear, for she may be an eavesdropper, nor from the mouth for she may be too talkative; nor from the heart for she may be too jealous; nor from the hand for she may be too acquisitive; nor from the foot for she may be a gadabout. I will create her from a hidden part of the body that she may be modest.

Another little verse:
So God put Adam into a deep sleep
And took out a bone, ah ha!
And it is said that it was a rib.
Behold de rib!
A bone out of man's side.
He put de man to sleep and made wo-man,
And men and women been sleeping together ever since. Behold de rib!
Brothers, if God had taken dat bone out of man's head
He would have meant for women to rule, hah!
If he had taken a bone out of his foot,
He would have meant for us to dominize and rule.
He could have made her out of back-bone
And then she would have been behind us.
But, no, God Almighty, he took de bone out of his side
So dat places de woman beside us.
Hah! God knowed his own mind.
Behold de rib!

Alice that is a beautiful picture. Wo I guess is for wo is me. signifying sorrow, for whom, who knows.

Ask Ric Flair!!!!!! Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...

"Woman" is from the Old English "wif-man", where "wif" meant woman and "man" person. "Wif" is of course now the word "wife". The vowel became o because "man" used to be pronounced "mon" and the vowel in it changed the vowel in the "wo".

At the same time, the word "waepman" meant "man", where "waep" signified "weapon", but it died out. However, "ceorl" and "wer" survived as "churl" and as the "were" in "werewolf", and they also meant "man".

...my wife said it best: wo=womb of mankind!!! nuff said.
yNOT?

Loved the detaild old english explanation, thanks to that contributor. I want to go wenching.

W = wonderful
O = on top of things
M = most amazing creation yet
A = always giving of themselves
N = Next to rule the world

Yes I am a man and all I can say to those other "men" who disagree is take a good long look at your Mother & Sisters & Wives, get over your ego's and realize with out them you would never have been loved and cared for the way your sorry butt has!

M = mean
A = arrogant
N = needy

It is rooted in the etymology of the word " MANKIND". This word is an original English word. As adaptive as English is and as many words that we have taken into our language "MANKIND", is not one of them, the word is an original English word.
The female was considered the "WOPMAN", and the male was called the "WAIPMAN", thus signifying the two genders.
Now, wopman, waipman and mankind are all three original English words.
So ... you and I (you being the wopman, and I being the waipman) are not reptilian. We are not canine, nor are we bovine, those creatures are of another kind altogether but we are of one kind, "MANKIND".
Yes I used to wonder about this "wo", but one day in an interesting article about a book review I learned this from the contents of that book. Damned if I can remember where the bloody thing is! I can't even remember who the author of the book is but I do know it was an American. It was sometime after 1985 I read this. But well before the nineties.

Emasculation of man ( Inspiration conception) ? EVE?