An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/man

by Friedrich Kluge

man, pron., ‘one, they, people,’ from MidHG. and OHG. man; corresponding to OSax. and AS. man, Du. men; prop. nom. sing. of the ModHG. subst. Mann, ‘homo’; so too Lat. homo appears as a pron. in Fr. on (as well as homme). In the early periods (MidHG., OHG., and AS.) man was again represented by the 3rd pers. pron. sing. (MidHG. and OHG. ër, AS. hê); hence man is lit. ‘any man’; in Goth. manna is found only with a negation (ni manna, ‘nobody’); see jemand. The sing. may have here a collective meaning, just as Sans. mánus (comp. Mann), and pûrús in the sing. signify ‘person, people, mankind.’