mannequin

or man·i·kin

[ man-i-kin ]

noun

1. a styled and three-dimensional representation of the human form used in window displays, as of clothing; dummy.
2. a wooden figure or model of the human figure used by tailors, dress designers, etc., for fitting or making clothes.
3. a person employed to wear clothing to be photographed or to be displayed before customers, buyers, etc.; a clothes model.
4. lay figure ( def 1 ).

mannequin

/ ˈmænɪkɪn /

noun

1. a woman who wears the clothes displayed at a fashion show; model
2. a life-size dummy of the human body used to fit or display clothes
3. See lay figure
   arts another name for lay figure

Word History and Origins

Origin of mannequin¹

1560–70; < French < Dutch; manikin

Word History and Origins

Origin of mannequin¹

C18: via French from Dutch manneken manikin

Example Sentences

The mannequins always faced forward in their seats and didn’t ever recline them.

From Popular-Science

Researchers used mannequins that were equipped with aerosol devices meant to mimic human respiratory spray.

From Popular-Science

More theme-park mannequin than cutting-edge research, Sophia earned Goertzel headlines around the world.

From MIT Technology Review

It includes tools, needles, thread, a mini dress mannequin, a sketch book, ribbons, and fabric samples.

From Popular-Science

These devices—consisting of a computer, a mannequin, a mock ultrasound probe, and a tracking system that tells the computer where the probe is—are used to train fellows, residents, and medical and pre-med students in ultrasound procedures.

From MIT Technology Review

The mannequin, meanwhile, lies in a heap of legs and arms on the stately king-sized bed.

From The Daily Beast

They were able to redo it as My Fair Lady, which is so beautiful, and then Mannequin.

From The Daily Beast

Polka dots merge into Dior logos, culminating in a faceless chainsaw-wielding mannequin.

From The Daily Beast

If Jack wanted something, a human mannequin, Kenneth would get it.

From The Daily Beast

He sold his harps and bought photography equipment, taking round-the-clock photos of a mannequin in different kinds of light.

From The Daily Beast

If it does not satisfy the mannequin demand for "beauty" it at least refuses to accept margarine substitutes.

From Project Gutenberg

The glide seems to be the ideal at which the modern woman aims in her walk, and the mannequin glides with every exaggeration.

From Project Gutenberg

Chesney, pale as always now, but quite composed, settled down with a copy of Le Mannequin d'Osier.

From Project Gutenberg

There is again a wicker Figure, 'Mannequin of osier:' the centre of endless howlings.

From Project Gutenberg

She found herself moving slowly around the study, with the gait of a mannequin in a dress-maker's show-room.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• dummy