effeminacy

Etymology

It is formed from English effeminate + -acy;^[2][3][4] Barnhart, Klein and Merriam-Webster Unabridged divide the suffix as -cy.^[5][6][7] The adjective, recorded before 1393 in Gower's “Confessio Amantis”,^[5] is from Latin effēminātus (“womanish, unmanly”),^[2][4][6] the past participle of effēminō (“to make womanish, enervate”),^[2][4][8] formed from ex- (“out”) and fēmina (“woman”),^[4][8][5] literally "she who suckles", from Proto-Indo-European *dhe(i)- (“to suck”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Qualities regarded as womanish, especially in a man, such as a lack of strength, courage or vitality: 1571, in T. Hill's Contemplation of Mankinde, in the entry the OED revised in June 2022.^[2] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster Unabridged date the word to 1602,^[5][7] Etymonline to about 1600,^[4] and the Shorter Oxford to the early 17th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The OED marks the main sense as usually disparaging,^[2] and Etymonline says the adjective is rarely used except in reproach.^[4] From 1644, chiefly in the plural, the word could name a thing or attitude that was taken to show self-indulgence or affectation.^[2] From 1720 it was also used more narrowly of a man's speech, mannerisms or bearing.^[2] For a short time in the 17th century it also meant, apparently, an excessive devotion to women,^[2][3] a sense the OED compares with the adjective, which in that use first translated Latin ūxōrius (“uxorious”).^[2] Johnson (1755) gives two senses, softness or "unmanly delicacy" and "lasciviousness; loose pleasure", quoting Milton's Samson Agonistes: "But foul effeminacy held me yok'd".^[9] Merriam-Webster Unabridged extends it to things produced by men, such as a painting.^[7]

Timeline

• 1571 – qualities regarded as womanish, especially a man's lack of strength or courage.^[2]
• 1642 – excessive devotion to women (obsolete by 1671).^[2][10]
• 1644 – chiefly plural, a thing or attitude regarded as self-indulgent or affected.^[2]
• 1720 – a man's speech, mannerisms or bearing regarded as feminine.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (usually disparaging) The quality or state of being effeminate; in a man, softness or delicacy regarded as womanish.^{[7][2][11][3]}
2. A man's speech, mannerisms or bearing regarded as feminine or affected.^[2]
3. Chiefly in the plural: a thing or attitude regarded as showing self-indulgence or affectation.^[2]
4. (obsolete, 1642–71) Excessive devotion to women; womanizing.^[2][3]

Related words

• effeminate
• feminine
• female

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House