Esperanto

Adjective

femina ‎(accusative singular feminan, plural feminaj, accusative plural feminajn)

1. feminine (of women), women's

Usage notes

Relatively uncommon; the synonym virina is generally used instead.

Synonyms

• virina

Ido

Etymology

Borrowing from English feminine, French féminin, Italian femminile, Spanish femenino, from Latin fēminīnus from fēmina ‎(“woman”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-m̥n-eh₂ ‎(“who sucks”).

Adjective

femina

1. female, feminine

Derived terms

• femino ‎(“female”)
• feminala ‎(“female”)
• feminalo ‎(“feminine gender”)
• feminismo ‎(“feminism”)

Antonyms

• maskula ‎(“male, masculine”)

Interlingua

Noun

femina ‎(plural feminas)

1. woman

Latin

Etymology 1

From Proto-Italic *fēmanā, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁m̥h₁néh₂ ‎(“(the one) nursing, breastfeeding”), the feminine mediopassive participle of *dʰeh₁(y)- ‎(“to suck, suckle”).^[1] Related to fīlius, fellō, fētus.

Alternative forms

• foemina (Medieval Latin)

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈfeː.mi.na/, [ˈfeː.mɪ.na]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈfe.mi.na/, [ˈfeː.mi.na]

Noun

fēmina f ‎(genitive fēminae); first declension

1. woman, wife
2. (of animals) female
3. (grammar) the feminine gender

Inflection

First declension.

Synonyms

• (woman): mulier
• (grammar): genus femininum

Derived terms

Descendants

Etymology 2

See femur.

Noun

femina

1. nominative plural of femur
2. accusative plural of femur
3. vocative plural of femur

References

• fēmĭna in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• femina in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• FEMINA in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “fēmĭna”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.

1. ↑ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “fēmina”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, page 210