femininity

Etymology

It is formed from English feminine + -ity;^[2][3][4] the Middle English form was femininite, from the adjective feminin.^[5][6][7] The OED compares Medieval Latin femininitas, recorded about 1300 in a British source, and the variant feminity, which Dictionary.com also lists.^[2][4] Feminine is from Old French femenin, from Latin fēminīnus, from fēmina (“woman”),^[3] which Etymonline explains as literally "she who suckles", from Proto-Indo-European *dhe(i)- (“to suck”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Womanly nature or qualities, about 1390, in Chaucer's Man of Law's Tale: "O serpent vnder femynynytee".^[2][5][3] The MED reads the line as "the shape of a woman", within its sense "women as a class".^[5] It is Chaucer's only use of the word.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The word soon had a collective sense, women considered together, recorded in Lydgate about 1450 but rare before the 19th century;^[2][5] Etymonline dates "women collectively" only from 1832.^[3] The sense "the fact of being female" is recorded from 1571, again rarely before the 19th century,^[2] and Etymonline dates "the state of being a woman" from 1853.^[3] From 1839 the word was used of things, for a feminine style or design;^[2] since 1855 it has also been used disparagingly, of feminine qualities thought out of place, especially in a man.^[2] Merriam-Webster gives this sense as womanishness or effeminacy.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1390 – womanly nature or qualities, in Chaucer.^[2][5][3]
• c. 1450 – women collectively, in Lydgate.^[2][5] Etymonline dates this sense to 1832.^[3]
• 1571 – the fact of being female.^[2]
• 1839 – of a thing, a feminine style or design.^[2]
• 1855 – disparaging, feminine qualities considered unsuitable, especially in a man.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The qualities or behaviour regarded as typical of women; womanliness: She saw no conflict between her femininity and her ambition.^[8][6][2]
2. The state or fact of being female; womanhood.^[8][2]
3. (disparaging) Womanish quality in a man; effeminacy.^[6][2]
4. Women collectively; womankind.^[6][2]
5. Of a thing, a feminine style or design: the femininity of the lace collar.^[2]

Word family

• hyperfemininity

Related words

• feminine
• feminize
• feminity
• female
• effeminate

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 f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f 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)
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins