English
feminize
Feminize comes from Latin fēmina ‘woman, female’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- ‘to suckle, nurse’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁(y)-‘to suckle, nurse’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-éh₂reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*θēmanāreconstructed
- Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*fēmanāreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfēmina‘woman, female’
- Englishearliest quotation 1962feminize
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁(y)-‘to suckle, nurse’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-éh₂reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*θēmanāreconstructed
- Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*fēmanāreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfēmina‘woman, female’
- Englishearliest quotation 1962feminize
Earliest quotation: 1962, Human Intersex: “Parabiosis experiments on primitive vertebrates showed inversion of sex…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- ‘to suckle, nurse’
doe, tyre, fetus, dai, felicity, fawn, filial, fellatio, fecundity, dahi, 32 more
through Latin fēmina ‘woman, female’
Today it means
verb To make (more) feminine.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- / feminize