everyman/Everyman

this term, introduced by a fifteenth-century, middle-English morality play, described a person trying to achieve Christian salvation, and thus carries flavors of the male, the white, and the Christian. The concept has grown flabby as we realize the impossibility of one individual representing the species. If necessary, use instead: the typical/ordinary person, the archetypal/archetypical human being, Everyman and Everywoman (always use together). See also average man, common man, man in the street.