What does womankind mean?
Womankind is a formal or literary noun meaning women collectively, especially all women regarded as a group. It can refer to women in general or to the female sex as a whole, often in historical, philosophical, or elevated prose. For example, a writer might describe a movement as devoted to the rights and interests of womankind. The word is related to “mankind,” which in modern usage generally means all human beings, but womankind specifically denotes women. Its historical style can give a sentence a solemn, traditional, or deliberately old-fashioned tone. In most contemporary writing, “women” is clearer and more idiomatic: “women everywhere” normally sounds more natural than “womankind everywhere.” The term remains useful when discussing older literature, formal rhetoric, or the history of gender-conscious language. As a collective noun, it does not take a separate plural form.
nounWomen collectively, especially all women considered as a group. The word is chiefly literary, archaic, or rhetorical.
- Women collectively, especially all women as a group.
"Her speech appealed to womankind throughout the centuries."
"The exhibition was intended to celebrate the achievements of womankind."
"She dedicated her life to improving the condition of womankind."
“Womankind” is a collective noun and is normally used as an uncountable group noun.
"The contributions of womankind to the development of science were long overlooked."
Once the standard counterpart of “mankind,” womankind preserves the elevated, distinctly gendered language of earlier centuries.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does womankind come from?
Womankind is an early modern English compound of “woman” and “kind.” In this construction, “kind” has its older sense of nature, sort, or type, so the word originally conveyed the idea of women as a kind or class. It developed in parallel with “mankind,” using the same collective sense of humanity while specifying the female sex.
How womankind is actually used
Chiefly literary, archaic, or rhetorical. In ordinary contemporary English it may sound dated or solemn, and “women” is usually the more natural choice.
Easily confused with womankind
Womankind refers to women collectively, whereas humankind refers to all human beings collectively.