Standard Lemma guide

manikin

noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈmænɪkɪn/
  • /ˈmænəkɪn/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • homophone: manakin
  • homophone: mannequin

1

noun

Meaning 1

A little man (sometimes as a term of endearment).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: homunculus, midget, peewee, shorty, titman

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A three-dimensional figure, dummy or effigy representing a man or person.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • 1859, Fitz James O’Brien, “The Wondersmith” in The Poems and Stories of Fitz-James O’Brien, James R. Osgood & Co., 1881, reprinted by University Press: John Wilson & Son, Cambridge, 1969, pp. 179-180, The window [...] contains the only pleasant object in the place. This is a beautiful little miniature theatre,—that is to say, the orchestra and stage. It is fitted with charmingly painted scenery and all the appliances for scenic changes. There are tiny traps and delicately constructed “lifts,” and real footlights fed with burning-fluid, and in the orchestra sits a diminutive conductor before his desk, surrounded by musical manikins, all provided with the smallest of violoncellos, flutes, oboes, drums, and such like.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Alternative spelling of mannequin.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, alternative

Examples

  • 1997, American Red Cross, Sport Safety Training: Instructor’s Manual, Granada Learning Limited, p. 118, Students should be told in advance that training sessions will involve close physical contact with manikins used by their fellow students.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a life-size dummy used to display clothes

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: mannequin, mannikin, manakin, form

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: dummy

5

noun

Meaning 5

a woman who wears clothes to display fashions

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • she was too fat to be a mannequin

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: mannequin, mannikin, manakin, fashion model, model

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: assistant, helper, help, supporter

Narrower terms: supermodel

6

noun

Meaning 6

a person who is very small but who is not otherwise deformed or abnormal

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: mannikin, homunculus

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: small person

History

Etymology

From Dutch manneken, Middle Dutch mannekijn. Doublet of manakin and mannequin.