Manner, n.
Etymology: [OE. manere, F. manière, from OF. manier, adj., manual, skillful, handy, fr. (assumed) LL. manarius, for L. manuarius belonging to the hand, fr. manus the hand. See Manual.]
1. Mode of action; way of performing or effecting anything; method; style; form; fashion. The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land. 2 Kings xvii. 26. The temptations of prosperity insinuate themselves after a gentle, but very powerful,manner. Atterbury.
2. Characteristic mode of acting, conducting, carrying one's self, or the like; bearing; habitual style. Specifically: (a) Customary method of acting; habit. Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them. Acts xvii. 2. Air and manner are more expressive than words. Richardson. (b) pl.
Carriage; behavior; deportment; also, becoming behavior; well- bred carriage and address. Good manners are made up of petty sacrifices. Emerson.
(c) The style of writing or thought of an author; characteristic peculiarity of an artist.
4 more senses
3. Certain degree or measure; as, it is in a manner done already. The bread is in a manner common. 1 Sam. xxi.5.
4. Sort; kind; style; -- in this application sometimes having the sense of a plural, sorts or kinds. Ye tithe mint, and rue, and all manner of herbs. Luke xi. 42. I bid thee say, What manner of man art thou Coleridge.
Note: In old usage, of was often omitted after manner, when employed in this sense. "A manner Latin corrupt was her speech." Chaucer. By any manner of means, in any way possible; by any sort of means. -- To be taken in, or with the manner. Etym: [A corruption of to be taken in the mainor. See Mainor.] To be taken in the very act. [Obs.] See Mainor. -- To make one's manners, to make a bow or courtesy; to offer salutation. -- Manners bit, a portion left in a dish for the sake of good manners. Hallwell.
Syn. -- Method; mode; custom; habit; fashion; air; look; mien; aspect; appearance. See Method.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for manner; he lists it under air, behavior, system.
Where he writes about it:
Manner and style are, in large part at least, acquired. — from air
Breeding, unless with some adverse limitation, denotes that manner and conduct which result from good birth and training. — from behavior
A person's manner may be that of a moment, or toward a single person; his manners are his habitual style of behavior toward or before others, especially in matters of etiquette and politeness; as, good manners are always pleasing. — from behavior
Method denotes a process, a general or established way of doing or proceeding in anything; rule, an authoritative requirement or an established course of things; system, not merely a law of action or procedure, but a comprehensive plan in which all the parts are related to each other and to the whole; as, a system of theology; a railroad system; the digestive system; manner refers to the external qualities of actions, and to those often as settled and characteristic; we speak of a system of taxation, a method of collecting taxes, the rules by which assessments are made; or we say, as a rule the payments are heaviest at a certain time of year; a just tax may be made odious by the manner of its collection. — from system