GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 2 definitions

1.       
   Feminine , a. [L. femininus, fr. femina woman; prob. akin to L. fetus, or to Gr. θῆσθαι to suck, θῆσαι to suckle, Skr. dhā to suck; cf. AS. fǣmme woman, maid: cf. F. féminin. See Fetus.]
   Of or pertaining to a woman, or to women; characteristic of a woman; womanish; womanly.
   1913 Webster
   Her letters are remarkably deficient in feminine ease and grace.
   Macaulay.
   
   1913 Webster
   Having the qualities of a woman; becoming or appropriate to the female sex; as, in a good sense, modest, graceful, affectionate, confiding; or, in a bad sense, weak, nerveless, timid, pleasure-loving, effeminate.
   1913 Webster
   Her heavenly form
   Angelic, but more soft and feminine.
   Milton.
   
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   Ninus being esteemed no man of war at all, but altogether feminine, and subject to ease and delicacy.
   Sir W. Raleigh.
   
   1913 Webster
   Feminine rhyme. (Pros.) See Female rhyme, under Female, a.
   Syn. -- See Female, a.
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2.       
   Feminine, n.
   A woman. [Obs. or Colloq.]
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   They guide the feminines toward the palace.
   Hakluyt.
   
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   (Gram.) Any one of those words which are the appellations of females, or which have the terminations usually found in such words; as, actress, songstress, abbess, executrix.
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   There are but few true feminines in English.
   Latham.
   
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