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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

everyman en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /ˈɛvɹiːˌmæn/

Etymology

Perhaps from the Flemish play Elckerlijc (c. 1495) or its English translation Everyman (c. 1520).

Meanings

  1. In fiction, drama, or allegory, the archetypical ordinary individual, frequently the protagonist in a parable of some sort.
    • Eternal Life is now on my trail / Got my red glitter coffin, man, just need one last nail / While all these ugly gentlemen play out their foolish games / There's a flaming red horizon that screams our names / And as your fantasies are broken in two / Did you really think this bloody road would pave the way for you? / You better turn around and blow your kiss hello to life eternal, angel / Racist everyman, what have you done? / Man, you've made a killer of your unborn son / Crown my fear your king at the point of a gun / All I want to do is love everyone 1995, “Eternal Life”, in Grace (Hard Rock), performed by Jeff Buckley, United States:
    • Near-synonyms: man on the street, John Q. Public (see more there)
    • In the novels of John Updike, sometimes Rabbit is his own man, and sometimes he is everyman.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
everymen Number=Plur lexicographic

Coordinates

everygirl · everyboy · everywoman

Deriveds

everymanish

Relateds

every man jack · Anytown · every man Jack

Synonyms

John Q. Public · man on the street