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effemino

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word effemino

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
234–149 BC, Cato
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*dheh1-mh1n-h2-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin femina
French femme
Latin effemino
Latin femineus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛfˈfeː.mɪ.noː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [efˈfɛː.mi.no][1]

Forms

effēminō (present infinitive effēmināre, perfect active effēmināvī, supine effēminātum); first conjugation[1] An old spelling ecf- occurs in a fragment of Cicero's poems.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + fēmina (“woman”) + -ō.[3][2] De Vaan traces fēmina to Proto-Italic *fēmanā- and Proto-Indo-European *dheh1-mh1n-h2- (“the one nursing”), originally a middle participle of the root *dheh1- (“to suckle”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it from Cato and Cicero on.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Its literal sense is to deprive of male characteristics, to emasculate,[3] and Cicero reports that the Stoics made the air female, assigning it to Juno, because nothing is softer.[3][6] Its usual sense is to destroy the manly vigour of a person or character, to unman or enervate:[3] Cicero says we are unmanned by the softest thoughts.[3] Quintilian uses it of a style so transparent that it makes the matter itself effeminate.[3]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of being unmanned by soft thoughts.[3][5]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian, of a style that weakens its subject.[3][5]
  • late 14th century – Its participle effēminātus gives English effeminate.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make female; to emasculate.[3][6][1]
  2. To regard as female.[3]
  3. To unman, weaken, enervate.[3][6][1]

Word family

  • effēminātiō
  • effēminātus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Effemino.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/effemino. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·