effeminatus Latin · revision 33958

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=ine-pro *dʰeh₁-mh₁n-h₂-}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''effēminātus''' (feminine effēmināta, neuter effēminātum; comparative effēminātior, superlative effēminātissimus); first/second-declension adjective^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Used as an adjective, it is the perfect passive participle [[der|la|effēminō|t=to unman, make womanish]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) That verb is made from [[m|la|ex-]] and [[m|la|fēmina|t=woman]],^(OLD 2012) which de Vaan explains as an old participle of [[ine-pro|*dʰeh₁-|t=to suckle]], "the one nursing".^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Cicero,^(Köbler 2010) who in the ''Tusculan Disputations'' calls an opinion womanish and light.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Of persons it means imitating a woman in looks or behaviour, effeminate;^(OLD 2012) of character and actions it means unworthy of a man, womanish, as in Cicero.^(OLD 2012) Quintilian transfers it to style, preferring a rough arrangement of words to an effeminate one.^(OLD 2012) The TLL records the comparative from Valerius Maximus on and the superlative from Quintus Cicero, Seneca and Apuleius.^(TLL) Stelten gives "effeminate" for Church Latin.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of a womanish opinion.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca in the superlative.^(TLL)

+ * c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian of an effeminate style.^(OLD 2012)

+ * c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius in the superlative.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(of persons)'' [[m|en|effeminate|alt=Effeminate]], imitating a woman in appearance or behaviour.^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(of character, actions)'' Unmanly, [[m|en|womanish]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(of style)'' Effeminate, soft.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[effēminō]]

+ * [[fēmina]]

+ * [[en|effeminate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}