noun
Meaning 1
An adult female human.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- the first woman president of Spain
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
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noun
An adult female human.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
All female humans collectively; womankind.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: collective
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A female person, usually an adult: a (generally adult) female sentient being, whether human, supernatural, elf, alien, etc.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A wife (or sometimes a fiancée or girlfriend).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A female person who is extremely fond of or devoted to a specified type of thing. (Used as the last element of a compound.)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A female attendant or servant.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To staff with female labor.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To make effeminate or womanish.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To furnish with, or unite to, a woman.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To call (a person) "woman" in a disrespectful fashion.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
women as a class
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Synonyms: womanhood, fair sex
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: class, stratum, social class, socio-economic class
noun
a human female employed to do housework
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Synonyms: charwoman, char, cleaning woman, cleaning lady
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: cleaner
noun
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Synonyms: adult female
Antonyms: man
Broader terms: adult, grownup, female, female person
Narrower terms: Black woman, white woman, yellow woman, amazon, virago, maenad, bachelor girl, bachelorette, baggage, ball-buster, ball-breaker, B-girl, bar girl, bluestocking, bas bleu, bridesmaid, maid of honor, broad, cat, Cinderella, coquette, flirt, vamp, vamper, minx, tease, prickteaser, dame, madam, ma'am, lady, gentlewoman, debutante, deb, divorcee, grass widow, ex-wife, ex, dominatrix, donna, enchantress, temptress, siren, Delilah, femme fatale, eyeful, geisha, geisha girl, girl, miss, missy, young lady, young woman, fille, girlfriend, lady friend, gold digger, gravida, heroine, inamorata, jezebel, jilt, matriarch, materfamilias, matron, mestiza, mistress, kept woman, fancy woman, mother figure, nanny, nursemaid, nurse, nullipara, nymph, houri, nymphet, old woman, prostitute, cocotte, whore, harlot, bawd, tart, cyprian, working girl, sporting lady, lady of pleasure, woman of the street, shiksa, shikse, smasher, stunner, knockout, beauty, ravisher, sweetheart, peach, lulu, looker, mantrap, dish, sylph, unmarried woman, vestal, Wac, Wave, widow, widow woman, wife, married woman, wonder woman, Eve
noun
a female person who plays a significant role (wife or mistress or girlfriend) in the life of a particular man
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: man
Broader terms: female, female person
History
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *wībą Proto-West Germanic *wīb Old English wīf Proto-Indo-European *mon- Proto-Germanic *mann- Proto-West Germanic *mann Old English mann Old English wīfmann Middle English womman English woman From Middle English womman, from earlier wimman, wifman, from Old English wīfmann (“woman”, literally “female person”), a compound of wīf (“woman, female”, whence English wife) + mann (“person, human being”, whence English man). For details on the pronunciation and spelling history, see the usage notes below. Cognate with Scots woman, weman (“woman”), Saterland Frisian Wieuwmoanske (“female person, female human, woman”). Similar constructions can be found in West Frisian frommes (“woman, girl”) (from frou and minske, literally "woman human"). Further information on vocalic development The current pronunciation of the first vowel of the singular began to appear in western England in the 13th century under the rounding influence of the w, though the older pronunciation with /i/ (→ modern /ɪ/) remained in use into the 15th century. Although the vowel of the plural was sometimes also altered to /u/ (→ modern /ʊ/) beginning in the 14th century, the pronunciation with /ɪ/ ultimately won out there, possibly under the influence of pairs like foot–feet. However, some speakers (especially of New Zealand English or South African English) have either retained or reinnovated the pronunciation of the plural with /ʊ/. The modern spelling women for the plural is due to influence of the singular; it is attested from the 15th century. For a time in the 16th and 17th centuries, the pronunciation of the singular sometimes drifted even further back towards /uː/ or /ɔː~oː/ (→ modern /oʊ~əʊ/) and the plural sometimes drifted even further forward towards /iː/, leading to comparisons of the words to "woe man" or "we men".)
Across languages
1646 source translations are retained for this English entry.