feminine

(fĕm'ə-nĭn)
adj.

1. Of or relating to women or girls. See synonyms at female.
2. Characterized by or possessing qualities generally attributed to a woman.
3. Effeminate; womanish.
4. Grammar. Designating or belonging to the gender of words or grammatical forms that refer chiefly to females or to things classified as female.

n. Grammar

1. The feminine gender.
2. A word or form belonging to the feminine gender.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin fēminīnus, from fēmina, woman.]

femininely fem'i·nine·ly adv.
feminineness fem'i·nine·ness n.

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These are the only survivors from a whole host of 19th century formations which also included feminacy, feminality, feminility, and femininitude (the last a nonce-word used in 1878). Feminineness and femininity have much the same meaning, 'the fact or quality of being feminine', whereas feminism rapidly developed a special meaning 'advocacy of the rights of women on the grounds of equality of the sexes', a meaning which it retained with increased force in the later part of the 20th century.

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adjective

1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of women: distaff, female, womanish, womanly. See gender.
2. Having qualities more appropriate to women than to men: effeminate, epicene, sissified, sissyish, unmanly, womanish. See gender.

Pertaining to the female sex, or having qualities normally characteristic of the female.

For a list of words related to feminine, see:

• Grammar and Usage - feminine: grammatical gender that includes most nouns referring to females, as well as other nouns
• Sexuality and Libido - feminine: (adj) characteristic of women; female

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See words rhyming with "feminine."

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - kvindelig, feminin, kvinde-
n. - hunkønsord, femininum

Nederlands (Dutch)
vrouwelijk, vrouwen-, met laatste akkoord op neergaande maatslag (muziek), met laatste lettergreep zonder klemtoon (rijm)

Français (French)
adj. - féminin, de femme, (Ling) féminin
n. - (Ling) féminin

Deutsch (German)
adj. - weiblich, feminin, fraulich, weibisch
n. - (Ling.) Femininum, weibliche Person

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - θηλυκός, γυναικείος, θηλυπρεπής, (γραμμ.) θηλυκού γένους

Italiano (Italian)
femminile

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - feminino

Русский (Russian)
женский, женский род

Español (Spanish)
adj. - femenino, de la mujer, de mujeres, género femenino
n. - femenino, género femenino

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - kvinnlig, feminin (gram.)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
女性的, 柔弱的, 阴性的, 女性, 阴性词, 阴性

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 女性的, 柔弱的, 陰性的
n. - 女性, 陰性詞, 陰性

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 여자의 , 여자다운, 연약한, 나약한
n. - 여성

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 女性の, 女らしい, 女の

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) أنثوي , نسوي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮נקבי, נשי‬
n. - ‮מין נקבה (דקדוק)‬

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