feminine

English

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feminine

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• f., f (abbreviation, grammar)
• fœminine (hypercorrect, obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English feminine, femynyne, femynyn, from Old French feminin, feminine, from Latin fēminīnus, from fēmina (“woman”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-eh₂ (“(the one) nursing, breastfeeding”). Related to fetus, feminism, filial, fellatio.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɛmɪnɪn/, /ˈfɛmənɪn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

feminine (comparative more feminine, superlative most feminine)

1. Of or pertaining to the female gender; womanly.
2. Of or pertaining to the female sex; biologically female, not male.
3. Belonging to females; typically used by females.

   Mary, Elizabeth, and Edith are feminine names.

4. Having the qualities stereotypically associated with women: nurturing, not aggressive.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. , London: [Samuel Simmons], , →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: , London: Basil Montagu Pickering , 1873, →OCLC:

     Her heavenly form Angelic, but more soft and feminine.

   • 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volumes (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:

     Her letters are remarkably deficient in feminine ease and grace.

   • 1614, Walter Ralegh [i.e., Walter Raleigh], The Historie of the World , London: William Stansby for Walter Burre, , →OCLC, (please specify |book=1 to 5):

     Ninias being esteemed no man of warre at all, but altogether feminine, and subject to ease and delicacy.

5. (grammar) Of, pertaining or belonging to the female grammatical gender, in languages that have gender distinctions.

   Synonym: female

   Coordinate terms: masculine, neuter, common

   1. (of a noun) Being of the feminine class or grammatical gender, and inflected in that manner.
   2. (of another part of speech) Being inflected in agreement with a feminine noun.
6. (grammar, Mongolic languages, of any word) Having the vowel harmony of a front vowel.

   Coordinate term: masculine

Synonyms

• (of the female sex): female, womanly
• (having qualities stereotypical of the female gender): caring, ladylike, nurturing

Antonyms

• (of the female sex): male, manly
• (having qualities stereotypical of the female gender): butch, masculine
• (grammar): masculine, neuter

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

feminine (plural feminines)

1. That which is feminine.
2. (rare, possibly obsolete) A woman.
   • 1589, Richard Hakluyt, The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation, , London: George Bishop and Ralph Newberie, deputies to Christopher Barker, , →OCLC:

     They guide the feminines toward the Pallace.

3. (grammar) The feminine gender.
4. (grammar) A word of the feminine gender.
   • 1860, Robert Gordon Latham, An Elementary English Grammar: For the Use of Schools:

     The different words belong to different systems, and are no more the masculines and feminines of one another

Translations

German

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

feminine

1. inflection of feminin:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fe.miˈni.ne/
• Rhymes: -ine
• Hyphenation: fe‧mi‧nì‧ne

Adjective

feminine

1. feminine plural of feminino

Latin

Etymology 1

From fēminīnus (“feminine”) +‎ -ē.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /feː.miˈniː.neː/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /fe.miˈni.ne/,

Adverb

fēminīnē (comparative fēminīnius, superlative fēminīnissimē)

1. femininely, womanly

Related terms

Etymology 2

Inflected form of fēminīnus (“feminine”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /feː.miˈniː.ne/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /fe.miˈni.ne/,

Adjective

fēminīne

1. vocative masculine singular of fēminīnus

References

• “feminine”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• feminine in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Middle English

Adjective

feminine

1. Alternative form of femynyne

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

feminine

1. definite singular of feminin
2. plural of feminin

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

feminine

1. definite singular of feminin
2. plural of feminin

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /femiˈnine/

Adjective

feminine

1. feminine/neuter plural nominative/accusative of feminin

Swedish

Adjective

feminine

1. definite natural masculine singular of feminin