unmann

From Proto-West Germanic *unmann (“non-human, monster”), equivalent to un- (“non-; bad”) +‎ mann (“person”). Cognate with Middle Low German unman (“monster, fiend”), Middle High German unman (“evildoer”), and Old Norse úmannan (“wretch, laughing-stock”). Compare also Old High German unmennisko (“a non-human”) → German Unmensch (“brute”), which is formed similarly.

IPA^(key): /ˈunˌmɑnn/, [ˈunˌmɑn]

unmann m

1. a non-human
2. brute, thug
   • c. 992, Ælfric, "Palm Sunday: On the Lord's Passion"

     Swā fela þūsenda engla meahton ēaðe bewerian Crist wiþ þām unmannum, mid heofonlīcum wǣpnum, ġif hē þrōwian nolde selfwilles for ūs.

     That many thousands of angels could have easily defended Christ against those brutes [the men who came to arrest Jesus], with weapons from heaven, if he didn't want to suffer of his own free will for us.

• Middle English: unman