Etymology

From Old Portuguese femea, femẽa ‎(“female”), from Latin fēmina ‎(“woman, wife, female”), from Proto-Italic *fēmanā, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-m̥n-eh₂ ‎(“(f.) one who is sucked; one who suckles”), derivation of the verbal root *dʰeh₁(y)- ‎(“to suck, suckle”).

Cognate with Galician femia, Spanish hembra, Occitan femna, French femme, Italian femmina and Romanian famen.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈfe.mjɐ/
• Hyphenation: fê‧me‧a