feminine
Use Feminine in a sentence
ə adjective
1.
pertaining to a woman or girl: feminine beauty; feminine dress.
2.
having qualities traditionally ascribed to women, as sensitivity or gentleness.
3.
effeminate; womanish: a man with a feminine walk.
4.
belonging to the female sex; female: feminine staff members.
00:10
Feminine
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| one of two marks « or » used in French, Italian, and Russian printing to enclose quotations. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French: feminine of feminin < L of fēminīnus, equivalent to fēmin(a) woman (see fetus) + -īnus -ine1
1350–1400; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French: feminine of feminin < L of fēminīnus, equivalent to fēmin(a) woman (see fetus) + -īnus -ine1
Related forms
fem·i·nine·ly, adverb
fem·i·nine·ness, noun
an·ti·fem·i·nine, adjective
an·ti·fem·i·nine·ly, adverb
an·ti·fem·i·nine·ness, noun
half-fem·i·nine, adjective
hy·per·fem·i·nine, adjective
hy·per·fem·i·nine·ly, adverb
hy·per·fem·i·nine·ness, noun
o·ver·fem·i·nine, adjective
o·ver·fem·i·nine·ly, adverb
pseu·do·fem·i·nine, adjective
su·per·fem·i·nine, adjective
ul·tra·fem·i·nine, adjective
un·fem·i·nine, adjective
un·fem·i·nine·ly, adverb
Can be confused: 1. female, feminine (see synonym study at female) ; 2. effeminate, effete, feminine, womanish, womanly (see synonym study at womanly).
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To feminine
Collins
World English Dictionary
feminine (ˈfɛmɪnɪn) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | suitable to or characteristic of a woman: a feminine fashion |
| 2. | possessing qualities or characteristics considered typical of or appropriate to a woman |
| 3. | effeminate; womanish |
| 4. | grammar |
| a. denoting or belonging to a gender of nouns, occurring in many inflected languages, that includes all kinds of referents as well as some female animate referents | |
| b. (as noun): German | |
| [C14: from Latin fēminīnus, from fēmina woman] | |
| 'femininely | |
| —adv | |
| 'feminineness | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
feminine
late 14c., "of the female sex," from O.Fr. feminin, from L. femininus "feminine" (in the grammatical sense at first), from femina "woman, female," lit. "she who suckles," from base of felare "to suck, suckle" (see fecund). Sense of "woman-like, proper to or characteristic
of women" is recorded from mid-15c.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences from the web
So the presence of some feminine behavior is not viewed as unnatural for men.
However, nonhuman plural nouns are grammatically considered to be feminine singular.
If the feminine and neuter forms drop the e, use that for the comparative form.
Joanna recognizes that her own style of narration reflects a feminine quality.
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