# The "Man" in Manhole is really short for "Manual"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 19, 2019, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-in-manhole-is-really-short-for-manual/837311 "2019-07-19T17:28:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kwyjibo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/59ef9b/32.png) [@Kwyjibo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kwyjibo)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-in-manhole-is-really-short-for-manual/837311/1 "2019-07-19T17:28:03Z")
So with the gender neutral language announcement made this week at Berkley, some folks on my Facebook blew up, of course, and a post mentioned the following: > [@](#): > > “The origin of the term {Manhole} comes from a hatch typically found on boilers or furnaces that only allowed enough space for one’s arm to enter. It was usually where a manual control was housed for one purpose or another. In fact, in early boiler manuals the terms manhole and armhole are used interchangeably.” I think the person who posted this got it from [here](https://www.quora.com/Why-are-manholes-called-manholes), …but it is Quora, so… Anyone have etymology on this one? I always figured it was a ‘hole’ that ‘men’ jumped into for work an Ninja Turtle parties… ---
**Author:** ![DETXL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/detxl/32/19366_2.png) [@DETXL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DETXL)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-in-manhole-is-really-short-for-manual/837311/2 "2019-07-19T17:45:26Z")
There is some machinery that does have access hatches that are too small to be entered, which might be called hand-holes or (I suppose) arm-holes. Notwithstanding, the first attested entry in the OED, from 1793, describes a stone “large enough to admit of an opening, from floor to floor, or Man-Hole,” and the second from 1839 is a specific reference [edit: to boiler design]: “in the crown of the boiler is a large circular opening, called a man hole.” In all such examples it is clearly a hole large enough to allow a person to enter. Whether this is expressly gendered is, of course, closer to the traditional “does ‘man’ simply refer to all people” debate, but man holes are not “manual” ones. It’s also clear from the early uses that “manholes” was a term for a way of accessing sewers at the same time, or before, it was used as a term for the hatch through which one performs maintenance on boilers so I’m not sure why Quora would say sewer manholes would be so-termed “as an extension” of that use. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-in-manhole-is-really-short-for-manual/837311/3 "2019-07-19T18:02:57Z")
Also, the allegation from the Quora article that “man-” was “from the root word that means ‘hand’ as in ‘manual’” seems fanciful. I’m not aware of other usages like that, despite the unsupported claim that it is used in other phrases for something held in the hand. It would be odd in any case to combine a Latinate prefix like man- with an Old English word like hole. This appears to be a fabrication in order to argue that a gender-neutral term isn’t necessary. However, even if true it would be irrelevant, since whatever the origin of the word the presently understood meaning is “an access hole large enough for a man to enter.” You can argue whether a gender-neutral term is or isn’t necessary, but the origin of the word doesn’t have much bearing on it. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2019, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-in-manhole-is-really-short-for-manual/837311/4 "2019-07-20T13:28:43Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > the origin of the word doesn’t have much bearing on it. aka the [etymological fallacy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymological_fallacy). ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2019, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-in-manhole-is-really-short-for-manual/837311/5 "2019-07-20T14:24:10Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > It would be odd in any case to combine a Latinate prefix like man- with an Old English word like hole. Right, because it isn’t a prefix–it’s a root. It’s common to put Latinate prefixes on Germanic roots (“rewrite,” “redo,” etc.), but a combining form/root like “man” is rarely as productive that way. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2019, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-in-manhole-is-really-short-for-manual/837311/6 "2019-07-20T18:19:22Z")
I’m getting a garage built and the human-sized door they’re putting in (as opposed to the car-sized overhead doors) is being referred to as a “man-door.” No word on whether or not my wife will be able to use it. I know etymologies can be strange but I’m surprised anyone even questions that “manhole” refers to a man-sized hole. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2019, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-in-manhole-is-really-short-for-manual/837311/7 "2019-07-20T18:30:50Z")
If the derivation were correct, one would expect to see smaller access holes referred to as manholes, and they never are. And I can’t recall ever seeing “armhole” used to refer to anything other than clothing. ---
**Author:** ![Bert\_Nobbins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@Bert\_Nobbins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bert_Nobbins)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2019, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-in-manhole-is-really-short-for-manual/837311/8 "2019-07-21T14:49:07Z")
It’s nonsense. Boiler manholes are for gaining access to the inside of the boiler for cleaning and other maintenance. Putting a manual control inside the boiler where it would be completely inaccessible when the boiler was in operation would be quite mad. ---
**Author:** ![Smudge777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@Smudge777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smudge777)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-in-manhole-is-really-short-for-manual/837311/9 "2019-07-22T00:40:32Z")
I’ve found [etymonline.com](http://etymonline.com) to be pretty reliable for etymological insights, and [they attest the word to 1793, with the ‘man’ referring to a male human](https://www.etymonline.com/word/manhole).