maleness

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree Latin masculus Vulgar Latin masclus Old French maslebor. Middle English male English male Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English maleness From male + -ness.

1. The characteristic, state or condition of being male.

   “They had always lived over the pub with its buzz of voices. Bar talk. When she was fifteen she had come home one night from the school concert just about closing time. Men were coming out on to the street and she could hear her father's voice calling time. She had heard this scene every night from upstairs and been afraid of it - the loud voices, the shouting, the maleness of it.”