mankind
Americannoun
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the human race; human beings collectively without reference to gender; humankind.
It is no longer possible, if it ever was, for a single human brain to hold all of mankind's scientific knowledge.
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men, as distinguished from women.
Some still maintain that mankind is stronger, braver, smarter than womankind, but many others consider that absolute nonsense.
noun
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human beings collectively; humanity
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men collectively, as opposed to womankind
Usage
Nowadays many people object to the use of mankind to refer to all human beings and use the term humankind instead
Gender
Is man gender-neutral? See man.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of mankind
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English; man ( def. ) + kind 2 ( def. )
Explanation
Mankind is every single human being — all of us. The discovery of cures for diseases benefits all of mankind, while global warming is not so kind to mankind. The entire human species can be referred to in one simple word with mankind. Pollution is something that harms mankind across the globe, and disasters like war and famine have affected mankind all through our history. If you think your dad's brownies are the very best in the entire world, you could exaggerate a little and say, "They're the most delicious thing known to mankind." In its Old English origin, man is gender-neutral, meaning simply "person."
Vocabulary lists containing mankind
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The yes-or-no questions posed by Polymarket don’t always have clear answers, despite the company’s CEO Shayne Coplan once saying External link that prediction markets are “the most accurate thing we have as mankind right now.”
From Barron's • May 12, 2026
"I've sometimes been accused of degrading mankind, or insulting human dignity, of making man beastly," he said.
From BBC • Apr. 20, 2026
It asserted that widespread famines and mass starvation would doom huge swaths of mankind because the world’s population was growing too rapidly.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026
One platform’s founder claimed the prediction market represents “the most accurate thing we have as mankind right now,” while another’s leader asserted the platform is “replacing debate, subjectivity, and talk with markets, accuracy, and truth.”
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 12, 2026
The anthropologist has never seen people like them anywhere, nor have I. You’d think, if they were simply examples of the common essence of mankind, they’d seem more recognizable.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
