Etymologically
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femina

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈfeː.mɪ.na][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfɛː.mi.na][1]

Forms

fēmina f (genitive fēminae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *fēmanā-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-mh₁n-h₂- (“the one nursing”), originally a middle participle of the root *dʰeh₁- (“to suckle”), “she who gives suck”.[2][1][3][4] From the same root come fēlīx, fētus and fīlius.[4][1]

From the root, cognate with Sanskrit धयति (dháyati, “sucks”), Ancient Greek θηλή (thēlḗ, “nipple”) and Gothic 𐌳𐌰𐌳𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (daddjan, “to suckle”).[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards,[2][5] and Ennius writes that “a good woman washed Tarquinius”.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a woman, as Cicero's mother, “a woman of the first rank”, and a wife, as in Propertius and Columella.[4] Used as an adjective it meant female, as in the old royal law's agnum feminam “a ewe lamb” and Ennius' lupus femina “she-wolf”.[4] Pliny even speaks of male and female carbuncles.[6]

In grammar it was the feminine gender.[1] Medieval Latin used it for a wife, a female serf and a female vassal,[7] and Catalan charters for a free woman acting at law.[8] It survives as Italian femmina, Spanish hembra and Portuguese fêmea.[1] English female came through Old French from Medieval Latin femella, a diminutive, and feminine from femininus.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for a woman.[4][5]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses lupus femina, “she-wolf”.[4][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for a woman of rank.[4][5]
  • 879 – A Catalan charter uses it of a woman acting at law.[8]
  • early 14th century – English female is first recorded.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A woman.[4][10]
  2. A wife.[4][1]
  3. (of animals, attributive) Female, she-.[4][1]
  4. (grammar) The feminine gender.[1]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A female serf; a female vassal.[7]

Word family

  • effēminō
  • fēmella
  • fēminal
  • fēmineus
  • fēminīnus
  • fēminō
  • masculofemina
  • effēminātē
  • effēminātus
  • fēmellārius
  • fēminātus
  • fēminīnē
  • fēcundus
  • fēlīx
  • fēnus
  • fētus
  • fīlius
  • English female
  • English feminine

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes femina, woman by sex, as bearing children, the opposite of mas, from mulier, woman as the weaker sex.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis Cataloniae (1960–; online ed. 2025), Barcelona: CSIC / Institució Milà i Fontanals, gmlc.imf.csic.es
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  11. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper