effeminate
English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom Middle English effeminat, effemynat, from Latin effēminātus, past participle of effēminō, from fēmina (“woman”).
Pronunciation
edit- (adjective): IPA(key): /ɪˈfɛmɪnət/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- (verb): IPA(key): /ɪˈfɛmɪneɪt/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Adjective
editeffeminate (comparative more effeminate, superlative most effeminate)
- (often derogatory, of a man or boy) Exhibiting behaviour or mannerisms considered typical of a female; unmasculine.
- 1759, Richard Hurd, Moral and Political Dialogues:
- An effeminate and unmanly foppery.
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XI, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 125:
- The Comte d'Artois had neither the dignified nor the manly air of his brother—he rather appeared like a pretty-looking girl, so effeminate was he and fair.
- (obsolete) Womanly; tender, affectionate, caring.
- c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene vii]:
- Gentle, kind, effeminate remorse.
Synonyms
editAntonyms
editTranslations
editof a man, behaving like a woman
Verb
editeffeminate (third-person singular simple present effeminates, present participle effeminating, simple past and past participle effeminated)
- (transitive, archaic or nonstandard) To make womanly; to unman.
- 1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, The Essayes […], London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:, Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.134:
- the studie of sciences doth more weaken and effeminate mens minds, than corroborate and adapt them to warre.
- 1693, [John Locke], “§106”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC:
- It will not corrupt or effeminate their [children's] minds.
- 2003 April 13, AlannahLouis, “Thoughts on #308 - THREE GAYS OF THE CONDO”, in alt.tv.simpsons[1] (Usenet):
- I mean the represenstation of gay men on The Simpsons is getting more one-dimensional. For several years Smithers was quite masculine, yet the writers have effeminated him gradually (collecting Barbies, for instance), now he's rollerblading down the street with rainbow hotpants on?
- (intransitive) To become womanly.
Antonyms
editNoun
editeffeminate (plural effeminates)
- An effeminate person.
- 1976, Psychiatry, volumes 39-40, page 246:
- The effeminates are males with obviously recognizable traits and mannerisms; […]
Related terms
editItalian
editAdjective
editeffeminate
Latin
editVerb
editeffēmināte
References
edit- “effeminate”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “effeminate”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- effeminate in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *dʰeh₁(y)-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 4-syllable words
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- English lemmas
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