feminine

See also: féminine

English

Alternative forms

• f., f (abbreviation, grammar)

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 7”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:

     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, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, OCLC 1069526323:

     Her letters are remarkably deficient in feminine ease and grace.

   • 1614, Walter Raleigh, Historie of the World

     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.

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

of the female sex

• Arabic: نِسَائِيّ‎ (nisāʾiyy)
• Armenian: իգական (hy) (igakan)
• Belarusian: жано́чы (žanóčy), жано́цкі (žanócki)
• Bulgarian: женски (ženski)
• Czech: ženský (cs)
• Danish: kvindelig (da)
• Esperanto: ina (eo)
• Faroese: kvinnuligur
• Finnish: naispuolinen (fi), naaras-, naaraspuolinen (fi)
• French: féminin (fr)
• Galician: feminino (gl)
• Georgian: მდედრობითი (mdedrobiti), ქალური (kaluri)
• German: feminin (de), weiblich (de)
• Greek: θηλυκός (el) (thilykós)

  Ancient: θῆλυς (thêlus)

• Hungarian: női (hu), nőstény (hu), nőnemű (hu)
• Indonesian: feminin (id)
• Irish: baineann
• Italian: femminile (it)
• Japanese: 女らしい (onnarashii), 女性らしい (joseirashii), 女の (onna no)

• Kazakh: әйелдік (äyeldik)
• Korean: 여자다운 (yeojadaun)
• Latvian: sievišķīgs, sievišķs, sieviešu
• Manx: bwoirrin
• Marathi: स्त्रैण (straiṇ)
• Middle Persian: [script needed] (m'tk')
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: feminin

  Nynorsk: feminin

• Pashto: ښځينه‎ (ps) (ẍëźina)
• Polish: żeński (pl)
• Portuguese: feminino (pt)
• Punjabi: زَنانہ‎ (zanāna)
• Russian: же́нский (ru) (žénskij)
• Slovak: ženský (sk)
• Spanish: femenino (es)
• Swedish: kvinnlig (sv), feminin (sv)
• Tocharian B: klaiññe
• Turkish: dişil (tr)
• Ukrainian: жіно́чий (uk) (žinóčyj)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
• Volapük: vomik (vo)
• West Frisian: froulik

belonging to females

• Armenian: կնոջ (knoǰ)
• Bulgarian: женски (ženski)
• Cebuano: pangbabaye
• Danish: kvinde- (da), feminin
• Finnish: naisten (fi)
• French: féminin (fr)
• Georgian: ქალური (kaluri)
• German: feminin (de), weiblich (de)
• Greek: γυναικείος (el) (gynaikeíos)
• Hungarian: női (hu)
• Indonesian: feminin (id)
• Italian: femminile (it)
• Japanese: 女性の (josei no)

• Korean: 여성의 (yeoseong-ui)
• Latvian: sievišķīgs, sievišķs, sieviešu
• Manx: bwoirrin
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: feminin

  Nynorsk: feminin

• Pashto: ښځينه‎ (ps) (ẍëźina)
• Portuguese: feminino (pt)
• Russian: же́нский (ru) (žénskij)
• Slovak: ženský (sk), dievčenský
• Spanish: femenil, de mujeres
• Swedish: kvinnlig (sv), feminin (sv)
• Volapük: vomik (vo)
• West Frisian: froulik

having the qualities associated with women

• Albanian: femëror (sq)
• Armenian: կանացի (hy) (kanacʿi)
• Aromanian: feamin
• Bulgarian: женствен (bg) (ženstven)
• Danish: kvindelig (da), feminin
• Esperanto: ina (eo)
• Finnish: naisellinen (fi), feminiininen (fi), naismainen (fi), napsu
• French: féminin (fr)
• Galician: feminino (gl)
• Georgian: ქალური (kaluri)
• German: feminin (de), weiblich (de)
• Greek: γυναικείος (el) (gynaikeíos)
• Hungarian: nőies (hu)
• Indonesian: feminin (id)
• Irish: baineann

  Middle Irish: banamail

• Italian: femminile (it)
• Japanese: 女性的な (joseitekina), 女らしい (おんならしい, onnarashii), フェミニン (ja) (feminin)
• Korean: 나약한 (nayakhan)

• Latin: fēminīnus (la), muliebris (la)
• Latvian: sievišķīgs, sievišķs, sieviešu
• Manx: benoil, bwoirrin
• Marathi: बायकी (bāykī)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: feminin

  Nynorsk: feminin

• Pashto: ښځينه‎ (ps) (ẍëźina)
• Polish: kobiecy (pl)
• Portuguese: feminino (pt)
• Punjabi: زَنانہ‎ (zanāna)
• Romanian: feminin (ro), femeiesc (ro)
• Russian: же́нский (ru) (žénskij), же́нственный (ru) (žénstvennyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: banail
• Slovak: ženský (sk)
• Spanish: femenino (es)
• Swedish: kvinnlig (sv), feminin (sv)
• Turkish: kadınsı (tr)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
• Volapük: vomik (vo)
• West Frisian: froulik

of the feminine grammatical gender distinction

• Albanian: femëror (sq)
• Arabic: مُؤَنَّث‎ (ar) (muʾannaṯ)
• Armenian: իգական (hy) (igakan)
• Belarusian: жано́чы (žanóčy)
• Breton: benel (br)
• Bulgarian: же́нски (žénski)
• Cebuano: pangbabaye
• Chechen: зударийн род (zudarīn rod)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 陰性 (zh), 阴性 (zh) (yīnxìng)

• Czech: ženský (cs)
• Danish: hunkøns- (da)
• Finnish: feminiininen (fi)
• French: féminin (fr)
• Galician: feminino (gl)
• Georgian: მდედრობითი სქესი (mdedrobiti skesi), მდედრობითი (mdedrobiti)
• German: feminin (de), weiblich (de)
• Greek: θηλυκός (el) (thilykós)

  Ancient: θηλυκός (thēlukós)

• Hebrew: נקבה‎ (he) f (nekeva)
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: nőnemű (hu)
• Icelandic: please add this translation if you can
• Indonesian: feminin (id)
• Irish: baininscneach
• Italian: femminile (it)
• Japanese: 女性名詞 (joseimeishi), 女性 (ja) (josei)
• Khmer: ភេទស្រី (pʰeit srəy)
• Korean: 여성 (ko) (yeoseong)
• Latin: fēminīnus (la)
• Latvian: sieviešu, sieviešu dzimtes

• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: женски (ženski)
• Maltese: please add this translation if you can
• Manx: bwoirrin
• Marathi: स्त्रीलिंगी (strīliṅgī)
• Middle Persian: [script needed] (m'tk')
• Neapolitan: femminile
• Norwegian: hunkjønn (no)

  Bokmål: feminin

  Nynorsk: feminin

• Occitan: femenin (oc)
• Pashto: ښځينه‎ (ps) (ẍëźina)
• Polish: żeński (pl)
• Portuguese: feminino (pt)
• Punjabi: زَنانہ‎ (zanāna)
• Russian: же́нский (ru) (žénskij)
• Scottish Gaelic: boireann
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: женски

  Roman: ženski (sh)

• Slovak: ženský (sk)
• Slovene: ženski (sl)
• Spanish: femenino (es)
• Swedish: feminin (sv)
• Telugu: స్త్రీలింగము (te) (strīliṅgamu)
• Turkish: dişil (tr)
• Ukrainian: жіно́чий (uk) (žinóčyj)
• Urdu: مُؤَنَّث‎ (mu'annas)
• Vietnamese: giống cái (vi)
• Volapük: vomik (vo)
• Welsh: benywaidd (cy)
• Yiddish: please add this translation if you can

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} נִקְבִּי‎ (nikbí)
• Marathi: ^{(please verify)} रत्रीविषयक (ratrīviṣyak)

• Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} banail, ^{(please verify)} boireannach, ^{(please verify)} màlda

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

that which is feminine

• Dutch: vrouwelijke (nl) n
• Greek: θηλυκό (el) n (thilykó)

• Latvian: sievišķīgais

woman — see woman

(grammar)

• Arabic: مُؤَنَّث‎ (ar) m (muʾannaṯ)
• Belarusian: жано́чы род m (žanóčy rod)
• Bulgarian: же́нски род m (žénski rod)
• Burmese: ဣတ္ထိလိင် (my) (ithti.ling)
• Catalan: femení (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 陰性 (zh), 阴性 (zh) (yīnxìng)

• Czech: ženský rod m
• Danish: femininum (da) m or c
• Esperanto: ingenro, femineno
• Finnish: feminiini (fi)
• French: féminin (fr) m
• German: Femininum (de) n
• Greek: θηλυκό (el) n (thilykó)
• Hindi: स्त्रीलिंग (hi) m (strīliṅg)
• Hungarian: nőnem (hu)
• Irish: baininscne f
• Italian: femminile (it) m

• Japanese: 女性 (ja) (じょせい, josei)
• Khmer: ឥត្ថីលិង្គ (ət'tʰəj-ləŋ)
• Korean: 여성 (ko) (yeoseong)
• Latvian: sieviešu dzimte f
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Pashto: ښځينه‎ (ps) f (ẍëźina)
• Persian: مؤنث‎ (fa) (mo'annas)
• Polish: rodzaj żeński (pl) m
• Portuguese: feminino (pt) m
• Russian: же́нский род (ru) m (žénskij rod)
• Sanskrit: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (sa) (strīliṅga)
• Slovak: ženský rod m
• Spanish: femenino (es) m
• Swedish: femininum (sv) n
• Tamil: பெண்பால் (ta) (peṇpāl)
• Ukrainian: жіно́чий рід (uk) m (žinóčyj rid)
• Vietnamese: giống cái (vi)
• West Frisian: froulik

a word of the feminine gender

• Hungarian: nőnemű alak

• Slovak: slovo ženského rodu

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} féminin (fr) m (2)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} femminile (it)
• Japanese: ^{(please verify)} 女性 (ja) (じょせい, josei) (1,2)

• Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 阴性 (zh) (yīnxìng) (2)
• Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} banail, ^{(please verify)} boireann, ^{(please verify)} màlda

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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

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Latin

Etymology 1

From fēminīnus (“feminine”) +‎ -ē.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /feː.miˈniː.neː/, [feː.mɪˈniː.neː]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /fe.miˈni.ne/, [fɛ.miˈniː.nɛ]

Adverb

fēminīnē (comparative fēminīnius, superlative fēminīnissimē)

1. femininely, womanly

Related terms

• fēmella
• fēmellārius
• fēmina
• fēminātus
• fēmineus
• fēminīnus
• fēminō

 

Etymology 2

Inflected form of fēminīnus (“feminine”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /feː.miˈniː.ne/, [feː.mɪˈniː.nɛ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /fe.miˈni.ne/, [fɛ.miˈniː.nɛ]

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

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Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

feminine

1. definite singular of feminin
2. plural of feminin

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

feminine

1. definite singular of feminin
2. plural of feminin

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Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /femiˈnine/

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

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Swedish

Adjective

feminine

1. absolute definite natural masculine form of feminin.