Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Characteristic of or associated with women: Having qualities, characteristics, or appearances traditionally or stereotypically associated with women and girls, such as grace, gentleness, or delicacy.
   • Of grammatical gender: Belonging to a class of words (nouns, pronouns, adjectives) that is distinguished by specific inflections and often associated with female referents in some languages.

2. Noun:

   • A grammatical gender category: In languages with grammatical gender, the class (feminine gender) that includes words for most female beings and often other nouns assigned to this category by convention.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:

  • She has a very feminine voice. (Her voice has qualities typically associated with women.)
  • The design of the room was soft and feminine. (The room's design featured delicate, traditionally woman-associated aesthetics.)
  • In French, the word "table" is a feminine noun. ("Table" belongs to the feminine grammatical gender class.)

• Noun:

  • In German, the article "die" marks the feminine. ("Die" indicates a noun is of the feminine grammatical gender.)
  • The word for "sun" is in the feminine in this language. (The noun "sun" is classified as belonging to the feminine gender category.)

Advanced Usage

• "the feminine": Used to refer abstractly to qualities, principles, or aspects considered characteristic of women.
  • The artist explored the balance between the masculine and the feminine in her sculpture.
• In linguistics: Used to describe inflectional patterns or agreement rules.
  • The adjective must take the feminine plural ending to agree with the noun.

Variants and Related Words

• Femininity (n): The quality or state of being feminine.
  • Her style embodies classic femininity.
• Femininely (adv): In a feminine manner.
  • She was dressed very femininely.
• Feminize (v): To make or become feminine.
  • Some species feminize under certain environmental conditions.

Synonyms

• Adjective (for qualities): Womanly, ladylike, delicate, graceful.
• Noun (for grammar): Feminine gender.

Antonyms

• Adjective: Masculine, manly.
• Noun: Masculine (gender).

Related Phrases

• Feminine ending: In prosody or music, a line or measure ending on an unstressed syllable or beat.
  • The poet's use of a feminine ending created a soft, flowing rhythm.
• Feminine rhyme: A rhyme between stressed syllables followed by one or more identical unstressed syllables (e.g., "motion" and "ocean").
  • The verse uses feminine rhyme extensively.

Adjective

1. (music or poetry) ending on an unaccented beat or syllable
   • a feminine ending
2. befitting or characteristic of a woman especially a mature woman
   • womanly virtues of gentleness and compassion
3. of grammatical gender
4. associated with women and not with men
   • feminine intuition

Noun

1. a gender that refers chiefly (but not exclusively) to females or to objects classified as female