different between feminine vs feminism

English

Alternative forms

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

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/

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.

4. Having the qualities stereotypically associated with women: nurturing, not aggressive.

   • Her heavenly form Angelic, but more soft and feminine.

   • Her letters are remarkably deficient in feminine ease and grace.

   • 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

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??ni?ne?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /fe.mi?ni.ne/, [f?mi?ni?n?]

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??ni?n?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /fe.mi?ni.ne/, [f?mi?ni?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.

English

Etymology

From French féminisme circa 1837, ultimately from Latin f?min?nus, from f?mina (“woman”). First recorded in English in 1851, originally meaning "the state of being feminine." Sense of "advocacy of women's rights" is from 1895.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?f?m?n?z(?)m/
• Hyphenation: fem?in?ism

Noun

feminism (countable and uncountable, plural feminisms)

1. (obsolete) The state of being feminine; femininity. [from 1851; less common after 1895]
   • 1875 July 24, The Medical Times and Gazette, volume II, page 105:

     His hair is delicate and silky, and of a light chesnut[sic]—one of M. Lorrain's signs of feminism.

2. A social theory or political movement which argues that legal and social restrictions on women must be removed in order to bring about equality of the sexes in all aspects of public and private life.

Antonyms

• antifeminism

Coordinate terms

• masculism

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

• egalitarianism, equalism (ideology promoting treating the sexes (or other human divisions) equally)

Romanian

Etymology

From French féminisme

Noun

feminism n (uncountable)

1. feminism

Declension

Swedish

Noun

feminism c

1. feminism

Declension

Related terms