womanly

English

Alternative forms

• womonly,womynly(rarefeministspellings; see usage notes atwoman)

Etymology

FromMiddle Englishwomanly,wommanly,wommanlich,wummonlich,wommanlych,equivalent towoman+‎-ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/ˈwʊmənli/

• Audio(Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation:wom‧an‧ly

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

womanly(comparativewomanlier,superlativewomanliest)

1. Considered typical of, stereotypical of, or appropriate to women;feminine.
   • 1886October –1887January,H[enry] Rider Haggard,She: A History of Adventure,London:Longmans, Green, and Co.,published1887,→OCLC:

     I know that the sound of it moved me more even than her words, it was so very human - so verywomanly.

   • 1938,Norman Lindsay,Age of Consent,1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.:Ure Smith,published1962,→OCLC,page149:

     "What I mean, a woman who doesn't go in for booze and sport and cigarettes. Man gets sick of these tough flappers. Give me awomanlywoman every time. As I said before, I could see at a glance that you were a thoroughlywomanlywoman. "

2. (rare)Female.

Antonyms

• masculine,male,manly

Coordinate terms

• girly

Derived terms

• womanliness

Translations

having the characteristics of a woman

• Arabic:نِسَوِيّ(nisawiyy)
• Aromanian:muljirescu
• Belarusian:жано́чы(žanóčy),жано́цкі(žanócki)
• Bulgarian:же́нствен(bg)(žénstven),же́нски(žénski)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Nữ tử khí／Nữ tử khí(nǚzǐqì)

• Czech:ženský(cs)
• Danish:kvindelig(da)
• Esperanto:virina(eo)
• Finnish:naisellinen(fi)
• French:féminin(fr)
• Georgian:ქალური(kaluri),დედაკაცური(dedaḳacuri)
• German:weiblich(de),fraulich(de)
• Greek:γυναικείος(el)(gynaikeíos)
• Hindi:स्रैण(sraiṇ)
• Hungarian:nőies(hu)
• Indonesian:betina(id)
• Irish:banúil

  Middle Irish:banamail

• Italian:femminile(it),femmineo(it)m,muliebre(it),donnesco(it)m,femmininom
• Japanese:Nữ らしい(ja)(おんならしい,onnarashii)
• Korean:여자답다(yeojadapda),녀자답다(nyeojadapda)(North Korea)
• Latin:muliebris(la)
• Latvian:sievišķīgs,sievišķs,sieviešu(lv)
• Macedonian:женствен(ženstven),женски(ženski)
• Manx:benoil
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål:kvinnelig(no)

  Nynorsk:kvinneleg

• Old English:wīflīċ
• Pashto:ښځينه(ps)(ẍëźina)
• Persian:زنانه(phát)(zanâne)
• Polish:kobiecy(pl),żeński(pl),babi(pl)
• Portuguese:feminino(pt)
• Romanian:feminin(ro),femeiesc(ro),muieresc(ro)(popular)
• Russian:же́нственный(ru)(žénstvennyj),же́нский(ru)(žénskij)(feminine),женоподо́бный(ru)(ženopodóbnyj)(womanlike),ба́бий(ru)(bábij)(pejorative)
• Scottish Gaelic:banail
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic:жѐнскӣ

  Roman:žènskī(sh)

• Slovak:ženský(sk)
• Slovene:ženski(sl)
• Spanish:femenino(es),mujeril(es),femenil(es),femíneo(es)m,feminoide,amujeradom,adamado(es)m,ahembrado(es)m,afeminado(es)m
• Swedish:kvinnlig(sv)
• Tajik:занона(tg)(zanona)
• Turkish:kadınsı(tr)
• Ukrainian:жіно́чий(uk)(žinóčyj),жіно́чний(žinóčnyj),жіно́цький(žinócʹkyj),жінкоподі́бний(žinkopodíbnyj)(womanlike)
• Yakut:дьахтардыы(jaqtardıı)

Adverb

womanly(comparativemorewomanly,superlativemostwomanly)

1. In the manner of a woman.

Middle English

Adjective

womanly

1. Alternative form ofwommanly