Man, subs. (once literary: now vulgar).—1. A husband; a lover:
generally ‘my man’.
c. 1369. Chaucer, Troilus, iv. 447. I wol nat ben untrewe for no
wight, But as hire man I wol ay lyve and sterve, And nevere noon
other creature serve.
d. 1437. James I (of Scotland), King’s Quhair, ii. 44. Quhen sall
your merci rew upon your man, Quhois seruice is yet uncouth to yow?
d. 1719. Addison, The Ladies’ Association. In the next place, every
wife ought to answer for her man.
1788. R. Galloway, Poems, p. 124. ’Twas thus he left his royal
plan, If Mar’gret cou’d but want a man; But this is more than
Mar’gret can.
2. (common).—The ‘head’ or obverse of a coin used in tossing: cf.
Woman.
1828. Bee, Living Picture of London, 241. The person calling for
man or ‘woman’.