different between women vs distaff
women
English
Alternative forms
- See woman
Etymology
From Middle English wimmen, from Old English w?fmenn (“women”), from w?f (“female”) + menn (“men, persons, human beings”), equivalent to wife +? men. Spelling (with o) influenced by the singular; see woman for more.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation, US, Canada) IPA(key): /?w?m?n/, /?w?m?n/, /?w?m?n/
- Rhymes: -?m?n
- (General New Zealand) IPA(key): /?w?m?n/, /?w?m?n/
- Rhymes: -?m?n
- Hyphenation: wom?en
- Homophone: woman (some dialects, common in New Zealand and South Africa)
Noun
women
- plural of woman
- Three women went for a walk.
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:women.
Related terms
- women's lib
- womenfolk
Noun
women
- Misspelling of woman.
Anagrams
- Mowen, menow
Middle English
Noun
women pl
- Alternative form of wommen
women From the web:
- what women want
- what women want cast
- what women want movie
- what women want in a man
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- what women find attractive in men
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distaff
English
Etymology
From Middle English distaf (“distaff”), from Old English distæf (“distaff”), from *dis- (“bunch of flax”) (cognate with Middle Low German dise (“bunch of flax on a distaff”)) + stæf (“staff”) (from Proto-Germanic *stabaz (“staff, stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *steb?-). Senses 3 and 5 (“anything traditionally done by or considered of importance to women only”; “a woman, or women considered as a group”) refer to the fact that spinning was traditionally done by women.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?d?st??f/
- (General American) IPA(key): /?d?stæf/
- Hyphenation: di?staff
Noun
distaff (plural distaffs or distaves)
- A device to which a bundle of natural fibres (often wool, flax, or cotton) are attached for temporary storage, before being drawn off gradually to spin thread. A traditional distaff is a staff with flax fibres tied loosely to it (as indicated by the etymology of the word), but modern distaffs are often made of cords weighted with beads, and attached to the wrist.
- The part of a spinning wheel from which fibre is drawn to be spun.
- Anything traditionally done by or considered of importance to women only.
- A race for female horses only.
- (also collective) A woman, or women considered as a group.
Alternative forms
- distaffe (obsolete)
Derived terms
- Distaff Day
Translations
Adjective
distaff (not comparable)
- Of, relating to, or characteristic of women.
- Synonyms: female, maternal
- Antonyms: male, paternal, spear
- Of the maternal side of a family.
Derived terms
- distaff side
Translations
References
Further reading
- distaff on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Middle English
Noun
distaff
- Alternative form of distaf
distaff From the web:
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