Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Feminine?

\Fem"i*nine\, a. [L. femininus, fr. femina woman; prob. akin to L. fetus, or to Gr. qh^sqai to suck, qh^sai to suckle, Skr. dh[=a] to suck; cf. AS. f[=ae]mme woman, maid: cf. F. f['e]minin. See {Fetus}.] 1. Of or pertaining to a woman, or to women; characteristic of a woman; womanish; womanly. Her letters are remarkably deficient in feminine ease and grace. --Macaulay. 2. 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. Her heavenly form Angelic, but more soft and feminine. --Milton. Ninus being esteemed no man of war at all, but altogether feminine, and subject to ease and delicacy. --Sir W. Raleigh.
\Fem"i*nine\, n. 1. A woman. [Obs. or Colloq.] They guide the feminines toward the palace. --Hakluyt. 2. (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. There are but few true feminines in English. --Latham.