different between heroine vs heroism

English

Etymology

Via Latin her??na from late Ancient Greek ?????? (h?r??n?) (2nd century), a feminine equivalent of ???? (h?r?s, “hero, demigod”), equivalent to hero +? -ine.

• English from 1650. The sense of "female lead character" is from 1715.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?h??o??n/, /?h??o??n/
• Homophone: heroin

Noun

heroine (plural heroines, masculine hero)

1. A female hero.
2. A female lead character.

Usage notes

• In sense 1, hero, the masculine of heroine, is sometimes used, though it is still acceptable to use the feminine.

She is an American hero (or heroine).

• Like feminine nouns formed with the suffix -ess, heroine refers only to females, whereas hero can refer to both males and females.

Who is your favorite hero? (answer can refer to either sex)

Who is your favorite heroine? (answer can refer only to females)

Synonyms

• shero
• hera (uncommon)

Derived terms

• antiheroine
• heroinic
• heroinism
• superheroine

Translations

English

Etymology

From French héroïsme.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?h?????z?m/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?h??o??z?m/

Noun

heroism (countable and uncountable, plural heroisms)

1. The qualities characteristic of a hero, such as courage, bravery, fortitude, unselfishness, etc.; the display of such qualities.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:goodness

Related terms

• hero
• heroic
• heroics
• heroine

Translations

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “heroism”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Anagrams

• Moshier, heirmos, more-ish, moreish