What does feminine mean?
Feminine is primarily an adjective describing things that relate to women or girls, or that display qualities a culture associates with womanhood — grace, softness, delicacy, or other traits depending on context. It also serves a precise technical role in grammar, where languages such as French, Spanish, German, and Latin classify nouns into genders, with "feminine" naming the class that typically covers female referents. The word derives ultimately from the Latin femina, meaning woman, entered English via Old French in the medieval period, and has since spawned a rich family of derivatives including femininity, feminism, and effeminate. Its connotations are generally neutral when describing style, fashion, or design, though discussions of what counts as feminine are increasingly understood as culturally constructed rather than fixed. Whether used of a person's manner, a garment's cut, or a noun's ending in a foreign language, feminine remains one of English's most versatile and frequently encountered descriptors.
Having qualities or appearance traditionally associated with women or girls; characteristic of womanhood.
"The dress had a soft, feminine silhouette."
(Grammar) Denoting or belonging to the gender category associated with female beings, as opposed to masculine or neuter.
"The Spanish word casa is in the feminine gender."
A word or form belonging to the feminine gender class in grammar.
"In German, both Mädchen and Sonne are examples of the feminine."
English borrowed "feminine" straight from Latin "femininus," from "femina" — the same root that gives us the French "femme" and even the word "feminism."
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of feminine
The word feminine comes from the Latin femininus, meaning "of a woman," formed from femina, "woman." It entered English through Old French during the Middle Ages, initially carrying both the sense of womanly qualities and, importantly, the grammatical sense relating to gender classification. Its Latin root femina also underlies a family of related English words, including feminist, femininity, and effeminate.
Related word forms
How feminine is actually used
"Feminine" is neutral in register, but its connotations can shift with context: applied to styles or objects it is usually complimentary or descriptive, while describing men's behavior as "feminine" can be sensitive because of associations with the pejorative "effeminate." In linguistics, it names a formal gender class, which does not always map onto actual sex or identity.
Easily confused with feminine
"Effeminate" is a pejorative term for a man displaying traditionally feminine traits, while "feminine" is a neutral descriptor of such traits themselves.
"Feminist" refers to advocacy of women's rights and equality, whereas "feminine" describes qualities or grammatical forms associated with women.