"person of strength and honor," 1907, from Yiddish, from German Mensch, literally "man, person," from Old High German mennisco "human," from Proto-Germanic adjective *manniska- "human," from *manna- (from PIE root *man- (1) "man"). Middle English had cognate menske "honor, reputation" (c. 1200, from Old Norse mennska "human nature"), which, as modern mense "propriety, decorum," lingered in Scottish and North of England dialect long enough to be in Scott and Burns.
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