effeminate

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English effeminat,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Latin effēminātus (“womanish, unmanly”),^[5][6][7][8] the past participle of effēminō (“to make a woman of, unman, enervate”),^[6][7][5][8] formed from ex- and fēmina (“woman”),^[7][6][9][3] the source of feminine.^[7][9] Etymonline and the AHD trace fēmina to Proto-Indo-European *dhe(i)- (“to suck”), so that it meant "she who suckles".^[6][3] The OED notes that the Latin participle could also designate the passive partner in sex between men,^[5] and compares Catalan efeminat (14th century) and Spanish efeminado (15th century).^[5] The verb effeminate (1531) was taken from the Latin participle as well.^[5][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Weak, self-indulgent, lacking self-control, of a man or his character: before 1393, in Gower's Confessio Amantis ("Thurgh his sotie effeminat").^[5][2][7] Etymonline glosses the late 14th-century word as "womanish; voluptuous; tender".^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word was chiefly disparaging from the start,^[5] and Etymonline notes that it was rarely used except in reproach.^[6] In the 16th and 17th centuries it also had neutral or positive senses: "womanly, feminine" (1549–1653) and "gentle, tender, compassionate" (1594–1641).^[5] Johnson (1755) gave "womanlike; soft without reproach" as "a sense not in use", quoting Shakespeare's "gentle, kind, effeminate remorse".^[11] From 1490 to 1700 it could describe a man too devoted to women,^[5] and since 1528 a person who is weak and delicate.^[5] The noun, an effeminate person, often implied homosexuality in later use and is now likely to give offence.^[5] The noun effeminacy followed in 1602.^[7]

Timeline

• before 1393 – of a man or his character, weak, self-indulgent, unmanly, in Gower.^[5][2][7]
• 1490 – of a man, too devoted to women (obsolete by 1700).^[5]
• 1528 – weak, delicate, without endurance.^[5]
• 1531 – verb, to make effeminate.^[5]
• 1548 – noun, the effeminate, effeminate people as a group.^[5]
• 1549 – womanly, feminine, without reproach (obsolete by 1653).^[5]
• 1583 – noun, an effeminate person.^[5] Etymonline dates this sense to the 1590s, Merriam-Webster to 1597.^[6][4]
• 1594 – gentle, tender (obsolete by 1641).^[5]
• 1604 – of music or scents, enticing to the senses (obsolete by 1699).^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (usually disparaging) Of a man or boy, having traits regarded as typical of women; unmanly.^[12][4][5]
2. Lacking strength or vigour; weak, soft: an effeminate style of prose.^[12][4]
3. Given to luxury or self-indulgence.^[4][11]

Noun

1. (now chiefly historical, often offensive) An effeminate person.^[4][5]

Verb

1. (rare) To make effeminate; to weaken.^[4][10][5]

Word family

• effeminately
• effeminateness
• effemination

Related words

• effeminacy
• feminine
• female
• feminism

Usage notes

Collins labels the adjective derogatory,^[12] and the OED notes that the noun is now used mostly in historical contexts and is likely to offend.^[5]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins