Etymograph

English

feminine

Feminine comes from Latin fēmina ‘woman’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-eh₂ ‘(the one) nursing, breastfeeding’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-eh₂the one‘(the one) nursing, breastfeeding’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*θēmanāreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*fēmanāreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfēmina‘woman’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfēminīnus
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400feminin
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500feminine
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1589same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-eh₂the one‘(the one) nursing, breastfeeding’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*θēmanāreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*fēmanāreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfēmina‘woman’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfēminīnus
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400feminin
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500feminine
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1589same form

Earliest quotation: 1589, Richard Hakluyt, The Principall Navigations: “They guide the feminines toward the Pallace.”

Linked words

through Latin fēmina ‘woman’

female, femme, effeminate, 12 more

Today it means

adj Of or pertaining to the female gender.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-eh₂ / feminine

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