From Old French *manquer*, borrowed in the 15th century from Italian *mancare* ("to be lacking, to fail"), itself from *manco* ("lacking, deficient"), derived from Latin *mancus* ("maimed, defective"). The sense of emotionally "missing" someone developed in French and became the dominant everyday meaning.

Watch out for a classic false-friend trap! In French, the construction is **reversed** compared to English. Where English says "I miss you" (subject = I), French says *Tu me manques* — literally "You are missing to me" (subject = you). English speakers almost always get this backwards at first. The thing or person that is missed is the **grammatical subject** in French.