Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Feminine
Fem′i-nine
,Adj.
[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
.] 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
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.
Syn. – See
Female
, Adj.
Fem′i-nine
,Noun.
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.
Webster 1828 Edition
Feminine
FEM'ININE
,Adj.
1.
Pertaining to a woman, or to women, or to females; as the female sex.2.
soft; tender; delicate.Her heavenly form angelic, but more soft and feminine.
3.
Effeminate; destitute of manly qualities.4.
In grammar, denoting the gender or words which signify females, or the terminations of such words. words are said to be of the feminine gender, when they denote females, or have the terminations proper to express females in any given language. Thus in L. dominus, a lord, is masculine; but domina, is mistress, a female.Milton uses feminine as a noun, for female.