woman

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See also:wo/man,and-woman

English

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Awoman.
Variouswomen.

Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishwomman,wimman,wifman,fromOld Englishwīfmann(“woman”,literally“female person”),a compound ofwīf(“woman, female”,whenceEnglishwife)+‎mann(“person, human being”,whenceEnglishman).For details on the pronunciation and spelling history, see the usage notes below.

Cognate withScotswoman,weman(“woman”),Saterland FrisianWieuwmoanske(“female person, female human, woman”).Similar constructions can be found inWest Frisianfrommes(“woman, girl”)(fromfrouandminske,literally "woman human" ).

A few alternative spellings (see below) respell the term so as not to containman.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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woman(pluralwomen)

  2. Anadultfemalehuman.
    • 1887,Helen Campbell,Prisoners of poverty: their trades and their lives,page120:
      But thiswomanis a nice Germanwomanthat fell on the ice and sprained her ankle last winter, and we saw to her well as we could till she got better.
    • 1888September 6,Michigan School Moderator,page402,column 3:
      Dr. J. H. Vincent, the great lecturer, says that a man's greatness consists in his courage; his inherent nobleness; his noble deeds, great exploits, and benefits to the world; but that behind every great man is a greatwoman- his mother.
    • 1978,Ashford & Simpson(lyrics and music), “I’m Every Woman”, inChaka,performed byChaka Khan:
      Cause I'm everywoman/ It's all in me
    • 1979,Muriel Lederer,Blue-collar jobs for women,page59:
      During World War II, manywomenworked as blacksmiths in the shipbuilding industry and found they liked the challenging, independent work.
    • 1985,Anthony King,The British Prime Minister,Duke University Press,→ISBN:
      But of course Britain since 1979 has had awomanprime minister, while no woman has ever come near to being president of the United States.
    • 2012,Kate Welsh,Substitute Daddy,→ISBN:
      "There is nothing wrong with Melissa or the way she was raised. She is a sweet, kind, intelligentwomanwith a generous heart and more love for her child than you and Mother ever showed for either of your children. "
    • 2020August 18,Veronica Chambers,The Staff of The New York Times,Finish The Fight!: The Brave and Revolutionary Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote,HarperCollins,→ISBN:
      You can't spend months studying the history of the suffrage movement without gaining a new appreciation for the grit and gumption it takes to be a powerfulwomanleader.
    • For more quotations using this term, seeCitations:woman.
  3. (collective)All female humans collectively;womankind.
    • 1886October –1887January,H[enry] Rider Haggard,“The Balance Turns”, inShe: A History of Adventure,London:Longmans, Green, and Co.,published1887,→OCLC,page191:
      Listen, Holly. Thou art a good and honest man, and I fain would spare thee; but, oh! it is so hard forwomanto be merciful.
    • 1910,Emerson Hough,chapter I, inThe Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise,Indianapolis, Ind.:The Bobbs-Merrill Company,→OCLC:
      “[…]it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons ! Dangerous enough you are aswomanalone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”
    • 1972,Helen Reddy,I Am Woman,first line:
      I amWoman,hear me roar / In numbers too big to ignore
    • 1997,Bob Grant,Let's Be Heard,page42:
      For if modernwomanis so intent on keeping her surname alive, why not demand it be passed along to her children?
    • 2011,Eileen Gray and the Design of Sapphic Modernity: Staying In,page109:
      Unsurprisingly, if modern man is a sort of camera, modernwomanis a picture.
  4. A femaleperson,usually an adult; a (generally adult) female sentient being, whetherhuman,supernatural,elf,alien,etc.
    • 1993,Michael Piller, “Emissary”, inStar Trek: Deep Space Nine,season 1, episode 1, spoken by Chief O'Brien (Colm Meaney):
      Sir, have you ever served with any Bajoranwomen?
    • 2003,Amelia Jones,The Feminism and Visual Culture Reader,Psychology Press,→ISBN,page37:
      To be born awomanhas been to be born, within an allotted and confined space, into the keeping of men.
    • 2007,Clifford B. Bowyer,The Siege of Zoldex,Silver Leaf Books, LLC,→ISBN,page307:
      One of the elves, awomanwith long auburn hair, was garbed identically to the two dwarves.
    • 2008,Christopher Paolini,Brisingr: Or The Seven Promises of Eragon Shadeslayer and Saphira Bjartskular - Inheritance Book Three,→ISBN,page549:
      Clearing a space between the tables, the men tested their prowess against one another with feats of wrestling and archery and bouts with quarterstaves. Two of the elves, a man and awoman,demonstrated their skill with swordplay—[…]
    • 2012,Merlin Stone,When God Was AWoman:
      At the very dawn of religion, God was awoman.
    • 2014,Oisin McGann,Kings of the Realm: Cruel Salvation,Penguin UK,→ISBN:
      There was a pair of burly dwarves – awomanand a man – bearing the markings of the formidable Thane Guards.
  5. Awife(or sometimes afiancéeorgirlfriend).
    • 1914,D. H. Lawrence,Study of Thomas Hardy and Other Essays,chapter 7: "Of Being and Not-Being":
      And then, when he lies with hiswoman,the man may concurrently be with God, and so get increase of his soul.
  6. A female person who is extremely fond of or devoted to a specified type of thing.(Used as the last element of a compound.)
    • 2004,Hyveth Williams,Secrets of a Happy Heart: A Fresh Look at the Sermon on the Mount,page70:
      Perhaps my problem is that I am a catwoman.I can't imagine any finicky feline (and they all are that at one time or another) slobbering over anyone, even a beloved owner, the way a dog does.
  7. Afemaleattendantorservant.

Usage notes

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  • 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 thew,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 likefoot-feet.However, many speakers (especially ofNew Zealand EnglishorSouth African English) have either retained or reinnovated the pronunciation of the plural with/ʊ/.The modern spellingwomenfor 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".)[1][2][3][4]
  • As a term of address, the word is often considered patronizing and at least somewhat offensive; compare the usage ofwomanas a verb.
  • American grammarians and style guides often proscribe/reject the usage ofwomanas an attributive (a noun used to describe other nouns, as in "a woman leader", a usage which is sometimes mistaken for an adjective).[5][6][7][8]It has been said to be particularly common in Nigeria and India.

Alternative forms

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Synonyms

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Hypernyms

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Hyponyms

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Coordinate terms

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Antigua and Barbuda Creole English:uman
  • Aukan:uman
  • Jamaican Creole:ooman
  • Krio:uman
  • Sranan Tongo:uma;oema(superseded)
  • Torres Strait Creole:oman
  • →Japanese:ウーマン(ūman)
  • →Korean:우먼(umeon)
  • →Volapük:vom

Translations

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Seewoman/translations § Noun.

References

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Verb

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woman(third-person singular simple presentwomans,present participlewomaningorwomanning,simple past and past participlewomanedorwomanned)

  1. Tostaffwithfemalelabor.
    • 1813,“Yorkshire Assizes. May awomanbe deemed a sailor sufficient inmanninga vessel?Case of Insurance.—Cookv.Thompson.”,inThe Literary Panorama,[…],volume XIV, London:[…]Cox and Baylis,[…]forC[harles]Taylor,[…],page683:
      […]he should prove, from the testimony of the most experienced seamen, that the vessel was, if not, strictly speaking, sufficientlymanned,yet that she was sufficientlymannedandwomanned.The Gypsey was a vessel of 43 tons burden, and there were on board two able seamen and the Captain’s wife, who was a very goodsailor;
    • 1956,Rex Stout,Three Witnesses,The Viking Press, page54:
      Apparently the Sixty-ninth Street office of Bagby Answers, Inc., was beingwomanedfor the day from other offices.
    • 1990,Stephen King,chapter 28, inThe Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition,New York, N.Y.:Signet,published1991May,→ISBN,page235:
      Gus Dinsmore, the public beach parking lot attendent,[sic]said he guessed that so many cars must be just stopped dead along the road that even those manned (orwomaned) by able drivers would be unable to move.
    • 2010,Julia Glass,The Widower's Tale,page77:
      The information desk is now manned (womaned) by someone whose main job is to help you reserve time slots for the computers or guide you through the arduous process of “logging on.”
  2. (transitive)To makeeffeminateorwomanish.
  3. (transitive)Tofurnishwith, oruniteto, awoman.
  4. (transitive)Tocall(aperson) "woman"in adisrespectfulfashion.

Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^Eric John Dobson,English Pronunciation,volume 2 (1957), page 574
  2. ^Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “woman”,inOnline Etymology Dictionary./“woman”,inDictionary Unabridged,Dictionary, LLC,1995–present.
  3. ^James A. H. Murrayet al.,editors (1884–1928), “Woman”, inA New English Dictionary on Historical Principles(Oxford English Dictionary), London:Clarendon Press,→OCLC.
  4. ^Christopher Upward, George Davidson,The History of English Spelling(2011), section "O"
  5. ^Waldman, Katy (2016 February 18) “Is Hillary Trying to Be the First Woman President, Female President, or Lady President?”,inSlate Magazine,retrieved2022-05-27
  6. ^Norris, Mary (2019 May 30) “Female Trouble: The Debate Over “Woman” as an Adjective”,inThe New Yorker,retrieved2022-05-27
  7. ^“Using 'Lady,' 'Woman,' and 'Female' to Modify Nouns”,inMerriam Webster,2022 May 27 (last accessed)
  8. ^“AP Stylebook: Use female, not woman, as an adjective. For example: She is the first female governor of North Carolina. Treatment of the sexes should be evenhanded and free of assumptions and stereotypes.”, inTwitter‎[1],2020 July 27, retrieved2022-05-27

Further reading

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Czech

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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womanminan

  1. obsoleteform ofoman(“elecampane”),obsoletespelling ofvoman(“elecampane”).
    • 1820,Bedřich Všemír hrabě z Berchtoldu,O přirozenosti rostlin, aneb rostlinâř‎[2],volume 1, Prague: Jos. Krause, page142:
      Škrobu welmi podobná hmota zdá se býti womanina (inulinum), kterauž P. Vauquelin w kořenu Womanu lekařského (Inula helenium) nalezl.
      A substance similar to starch seems to be the elecampine (inulinum) which already P. Vauquelin has found in the root of the officinal inula (Inula helenium).

Declension

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Declension ofwoman(hard masculine inanimate)
singular plural
nominative woman womany
genitive womanu womanů
dative womanu womanům
accusative woman womany
vocative womane womany
locative womanu womanech
instrumental womanem womany

Middle English

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Noun

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woman(pluralwomen)

  1. Alternative form ofwomman

Old English

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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wōman

  1. inflection ofwōma:
    1. nominativeplural
    2. accusativesingular/plural
    3. genitive/dativesingular

Upper Sorbian

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woman -Inula helenium

Etymology

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InheritedfromProto-Slavic*omanъ.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key):/ˈwɔman/
  • Rhymes:-ɔman
  • Hyphenation:wo‧man
  • Syllabification:wo‧man

Noun

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womanminan

  1. (botany)inula,elecampane(Inula,Inula helenium)

Declension

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Declension ofwoman(masculine hard stem)
singular dual plural
nominative woman womanaj womany
genitive womana womanow womanow
dative womanej womanomaj womanam
accusative woman womanaj womany
instrumental womanom womanomaj womanami
locative womanje womanomaj womanach
vocative womano,womanje womanaj womany

References

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