English

English Wikipedia has articles on:

feminine

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• f., f (abbreviation, grammar)

Etymology

From Middle English feminine, femynyne, femynyn, from Old French feminin, feminine, from Latin f?min?nus, from f?mina ("woman"), from Proto-Indo-European *d?eh?-m?h?n-eh? ("(the one) nursing, breastfeeding"). Related to fetus, feminism, filial, fellatio.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /'f?m?n?n/, /'f?m?n?n/

• 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.
   • John Milton:

     Her heavenly form Angelic, but more soft and feminine.

   • Thomas Babington Macaulay:

     Her letters are remarkably deficient in feminine ease and grace.

   • Sir Walter Raleigh:

     Ninus being esteemed no man of war 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.

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

• femininely
• feminineness
• feminine rhyme (prosody)
• femininity
• feminize

Translations

Noun

feminine (plural feminines)

1. That which is feminine.
2. (rare, possibly obsolete) A woman.
   • Richard Hakluyt:

     They guide the feminines toward the palace.

3. (grammar) The feminine gender.
4. (grammar) A word of the feminine gender.
   • Latham:

     There are but few true feminines in English.

Translations

German

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

Latin

Etymology 1

From f?min?nus ("feminine") +‎ -?.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /fe:.mi'ni:.ne:/, [fe:.m?'n?i:.n?e:]

Adverb

f?min?n? (comparative f?min?nius, superlative f?min?nissim?)

1. femininely, womanly

Related terms

Etymology 2

Inflected form of f?min?nus ("feminine").

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /fe:.mi'ni:.ne/, [fe:.m?'n?i:.n]

Adjective

f?min?ne

1. vocative masculine singular of f?min?nus

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

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): /femi'nine/

Adjective

feminine

1. feminine plural nominative of feminin
2. feminine plural accusative of feminin
3. neuter plural nominative of feminin
4. neuter plural accusative of feminin

Swedish

Adjective

feminine

1. absolute definite natural masculine form of feminin.