In English, lower case man (pl. men) refers to an adult human male (the term boy is the usual term for a human male child or adolescent). Sometimes it is also used as an adjective to identify a set of male humans, regardless of age, as in phrases such as "men's rights". Although men typically have a male reproductive system, some intersex people with ambiguous genitals, and biologically female transgender people, may also be classified or self-identify as a "man".

The term manhood is used to refer to masculinity, the various qualities and characteristics attributed to men such as strength and male sexuality.

The English term "man" is derived from Old English mann. The Old English form had a default meaning of "adult male" (which was the exclusive meaning of "wer"), though it could signify a person of unspecified gender. The closely related "man" was used just as it is in Modern German to designate "one" (e.g., as in the saying Man muss mit den Wölfen heulen). The Old English form is derived from Proto-Germanic *mannaz, "persona", which is also the etonym of German Mann "man, husband" and man "one" (pronoun), Old Norse maðr, and Gothic manna. According to Tacitus, the mythological progenitor of the Germanic tribes was called Mannus. The Germanic form is in turn derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *manu-s "man, person", which is also the root of the Indian name Manu, mythological progenitor of the Hindus.

Football refers to a number of sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball with the foot to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer". Unqualified, the word football applies to whichever form of football is the most popular in the regional context in which the word appears, including association football, as well as American football, Australian rules football, Canadian football, Gaelic football, rugby league, rugby union and other related games. These variations of football are known as football "codes".

Various forms of "football" can be identified in history, often as popular peasant games. Contemporary codes of football can be traced back to the codification of these games at English public schools in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. The influence and power of the British Empire allowed these rules of football to spread, including to areas of British influence outside of the directly controlled Empire, though by the end of the nineteenth century, distinct regional codes were already developing: Gaelic Football, for example, deliberately incorporated the rules of local traditional football games in order to maintain their heritage. In 1888, The Football League was founded in England, becoming the first of many professional football competitions. In the twentieth century, the various codes of football have become amongst the most popular team sports in the world.