# manual
## English
### Alternative forms

* manuall (obsolete)

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /ˈmæn.j(ʊ)əl/
** Audio (UK):(file)
* (US) IPA: /ˈmæn.j(u)əl/
** Audio (US):(file)
* (Indic) IPA: /mæn(ju)wal/
* Rhymes: (UK) -ænjəl
* Homophone: Manuel (Anglicized pronunciation)
* Hyphenation: man‧u‧al, man‧ual

### Etymology 1

From Middle English manuel, from Old French manuel, from Late Latin manuāle (“handbook, manual”).

#### Noun

manual (plural manuals)
* Synonym of handbook.
    Hypernyms: reference book, reference work
    Hyponyms: manual of style, MOS, style manual
* A booklet that instructs on the usage of a particular machine or product.
    The dishwasher isn't working; can you remember where we put the manual?
* (military) A drill in the use of weapons, etc.
* (Christianity, historical) An old office-book like the modern Roman Catholic ritual.
* (music) A keyboard on an organ.

##### Derived terms

* instruction manual
* manual of style
* owners manual
* reference manual
* seal manual
* sign manual
* style manual
* user manual
* user's manual

##### Descendants

* → Japanese: マニュアル (manyuaru)

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

From Middle English manuel, from Anglo-Norman manuel, Old French manual, from Latin manuālis, from manus (“hand”).

#### Adjective

manual (comparative more manual, superlative most manual)
* (of an activity) Performed with the hands.
** 1897 October 16, Henry James, What Maisie Knew, Chicago, Ill., New York, N.Y.: Herbert S. Stone & Co., →OCLC:She gave a wild manual brush to her locks.
* (of a machine, device etc.) Operated by means of the hands.
* Performed by a human rather than a machine.
    The teacher urged the students to do a manual check, because some errors aren't picked up by the spell checker.

##### Synonyms

* handly

##### Antonyms

* automatic

##### Coordinate terms

* aural, relating to the ear or the sense of hearing
* oral, relating to the mouth
* pedal, relating to the foot

##### Derived terms

* automated manual transmission
* brachiomanual
* clutchless manual transmission
* manual alphabet
* manual exercise
* manual laborer
* manual labor, manual labour
* manual labourer
* manually
* manual reversion
* manual scavenging
* manual sex
* manual transmission
* manual work
* manumatic
* non-manual marker
* sequential manual gearbox

##### Related terms

* amanuensis
* manufacture
* manumit
* manus
* manuscript

##### Translations
#### Noun

manual (countable and uncountable, plural manuals)
* (countable) A device that is operated using the hands, or by a human rather than a machine.
** (automotive) A manual transmission; a gearbox, especially of a motorized vehicle, shifted by the operator.
    Antonym: automatic
    Tom's transmission shop can fix both manuals and automatics.
** (metonymically) A vehicle with a manual transmission.
    Antonym: automatic
    I'm not used to automatics; I've always driven manuals.
** (music) A keyboard for the hands on a harpsichord, organ, or other musical instrument.
** A manual typewriter (as contrasted with an electronic one).
* (countable) A procedure or operation that is done using the hands, or by a human rather than machine.
** (medicine, colloquial) Manual measurement of the blood pressure, done with a manual sphygmomanometer.
    do a manual
    give someone a quick manual
** A bicycle technique whereby the front wheel is held aloft by the rider, without the use of pedal force.
** A similar maneuver on a skateboard, lifting the front or back wheels while keeping the tail or nose of the board from touching the ground.
*** 2007, Friedrich von Borries, Steffen P. Walz, Matthias Boettger, editors, Space Time Play: Computer Games, Architecture and Urbanism: The Next Level, 1st edition, Basel: Birkhauser, published 2007, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 124:In short tutorials, the player learns the basics of skating: reverts, manuals and the ollie – that is, sliding round when coming out of a trick, lifting two wheels off the ground and jumping with the board.
* (uncountable) Manual control or operation.
    Put the controls to manual.
    Leave the system on manual.

##### Synonyms

* (automotive): stick shift / stick
* (automotive): standard transmission / standard

##### See also

(automotive):
* automatic
* semi-automatic
* manumatic

### Further reading

* Manual on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* Manual in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

### Anagrams

* Lauman, alumna

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin manuālis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [mə.nuˈal]
* IPA: (Valencia) [ma.nuˈal]

### Adjective

manual m or f (masculine and feminine plural manuals)
* manual

#### Derived terms

* manualment

### Noun

manual m (plural manuals)
* manual

### Further reading

* “manual” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “manual”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “manual” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “manual” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Danish
### Noun

manual c (singular definite manualen, plural indefinite manualer)
* manual, a booklet that instructs on the usage of a particular machine

#### Inflection
## Indonesian
### Etymology

From English manual, from Anglo-Norman manuel, from Old French manual, from Latin manuālis, from manus (“hand”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [maˈnu.al]
* Hyphenation: ma‧nu‧al

### Noun

manual (plural manual-manual)
* (colloquial) manual, handbook
    Synonym: panduan

### Adjective

manual
* manual,
    Synonyms: swausaha, swatangan
** performed with the hands
** performed by a human rather than a machine

### Further reading

* “manual” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin manualis, or English manual (“handbook”).

### Noun

manual m (definite singular manualen, indefinite plural manualer, definite plural manualene)
* a manual (handbook)
* (music) manual (organ keyboard)
* (weightlifting, fitness) a dumbbell

### References

* “manual” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin manualis, or English manual (“handbook”).

### Noun

manual m (definite singular manualen, indefinite plural manualar, definite plural manualane)
* a manual (handbook)
* (music) manual (organ keyboard)
* (weightlifting, fitness) a dumbbell

### References

* “manual” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin manuālis.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /ma.nuˈaw/ [ma.nʊˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /maˈnwaw/ [maˈnwaʊ̯], /mɐ̃.nuˈaw/ [mɐ̃.nʊˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /mɐ̃ˈnwaw/ [mɐ̃ˈnwaʊ̯]
* (Portugal) IPA: /mɐˈnwal/ [mɐˈnwaɫ]
* (Portugal) IPA: /mɐˈnwal/ [mɐˈnwaɫ]
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /mɐˈnwa.li/
* Rhymes: -al, -aw
* Hyphenation: ma‧nu‧al

### Adjective

manual m or f (plural manuais)
* manual

#### Derived terms

* manualmente

### Noun

manual m (plural manuais)
* manual

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French manuel, Latin manualis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ma.nuˈal/
* Audio:(file)

### Adjective

manual m or n (feminine singular manuală, masculine plural manuali, feminine and neuter plural manuale)
* manual

#### Declension
### Noun

manual n (plural manuale)
* handbook

#### See also

* carte

## Spanish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin manuālis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /maˈnwal/ [maˈnwal]
* Rhymes: -al
* Syllabification: ma‧nual

### Adjective

manual m or f (masculine and feminine plural manuales)
* manual (performed by the hands)
* manual (operated by the hands)
* manual (performed by a human)
    Antonym: automático

#### Derived terms

* de manual
* manualidad
* manualmente

### Noun

manual m (plural manuales)
* manual (handbook)
* manual (booklet with instructions)

#### Further reading

* “manual”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

## Swedish
### Noun

manual c
* a manual, a handbook
* (music) a manual, a keyboard

#### See also

* manuell
* pedal