Feminine
femme
Sentences
Meaning
- woman
- wife
- Alternative form of fem (“femme, feminine lesbian”) (contrast butch)
Concepts
female person
adult female
married woman
fille
cleaning woman
his wife
your wife
married lady
lying-in woman
single woman
young woman
capable woman
common-law wife
damoiselle
domestic help
female spouse
neglected wife
odd jobber
women and children
damosel
Dama
cleaning lady
damozel
Synonyms
demoiselle noble
de sexe féminin
femme enceinte
femme mariée
les femmes
sexe féminin
femme marié
le sexe féminin
epouse
Bourgeoise
mari ou femme
bougreesse
damoche
tenancière de bordel
kobièta
fam
mulier
woman
uxor
Frequency
Pronounced as (IPA)
/fam/
Etymology
In summary
Inherited from Middle French femme, from Old French fam(m)e, fem(m)e, fenme, from Latin fēmina, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-éh₂ (“(the one) nursing, breastfeeding”), derivation of the verbal root *dʰeh₁(y)- (“to suck, suckle”). The Old French pronunciation was [fɛ̃mə], which then became [fãmə] through lowering of nasal vowels, finally [famə] in Middle French through denasalisation before /m/, /n/. Other words in which -e- is pronounced /a/ include couenne, solennel, and the adverbs in -emment. See cognates in regional languages in France: Norman and Gallo fame; Picard fanme; Bourguignon fonne; Franco-Provençal fèna; Occitan femna; Corsican femina.
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Notes
