Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An adult female human.
- noun Women considered as a group; womankind.
- noun An adult female human belonging to a specified occupation, group, nationality, or other category. Often used in combination.
- noun A female servant or subordinate.
- noun A wife.
- noun A female lover or sweetheart.
- idiom ((one's) own woman) Independent in judgment or action.
- idiom (to a woman) Without exception.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Formerly, the side of a British penny on which was the figure of Britannia, the other having the king's head: as “man or woman?”—that is, heads or tails?
- To act the part of a woman: with an indefinite it.
- To cause to act like a woman; subdue to weakness like a woman.
- To unite to, or accompany by, a woman.
- To call (a person) “woman” in an abusive way.
- noun An adult female of the human race; figuratively, the female sex; human females collectively. See
lady , 5. - noun The qualities which characterize womanhood; tenderness; gentleness; also, when used of a man, effeminacy; weakness.
- noun A female attendant on a person of rank (used in such a connection as to show the special sense intended).
- noun A woman experienced in the ways of the world; a woman engrossed in society or fashionable life.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To act the part of a woman in; -- with indefinite
it . - transitive verb rare To make effeminate or womanish.
- transitive verb rare To furnish with, or unite to, a woman.
- noun An adult female person; a grown-up female person, as distinguished from a man or a child; sometimes, any female person.
- noun The female part of the human race; womankind.
- noun A female attendant or servant.
- noun one who hates women; one who has an aversion to the female sex; a misogynist.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An
adult female human . - noun A
wife (sometimes afiance orgirlfriend ) - verb To
man with female labor. - verb transitive To make
effeminate orwomanish . - verb transitive To
furnish with, orunite to, a woman.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a female person who plays a significant role (wife or mistress or girlfriend) in the life of a particular man
- noun a human female employed to do housework
- noun an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
- noun women as a class
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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In Tibetan both the methods of order and of true case relation may be employed: woman white (i.e., white woman) or white-of woman (i.e., woman of whiteness, woman who is white, white woman).
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She forced her legs to move, creaking, one step at a time, thinking to herself: _The gypsy woman, the gypsy woman, the gypsy woman_ -- and trying to ignore the voices in her head that went on and on:
Hex Laurence M. Janifer 1967
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(_Enter a Greek woman with a bow_.) _Greek woman_.
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One woman was shot through the face, but that was not worthy of notice, for she was only a _colored woman_; and in that, as in other slave States, the laws give to the white population the liberty to trample under foot the claims of all such persons to justice.
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"Look here, my boy, I can do almost anything; but I would not wrong a woman, -- no, not a _woman_, -- I am above that," said Vernon, with much emphasis.
Hatchie, the Guardian Slave; or, The Heiress of Bellevue Warren T. Ashton
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Indeed, to have entertained any would have been impossible -- but she could not bear to see him liked, admired, esteemed, by any woman -- mark me, I say by _any woman_; for no one could feel more triumphant joy than she did when she saw him duly appreciated by men.
The International Magazine, Volume 2, No. 2, January, 1851 Various
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(_Enter the first woman, with the clay peacock_.) _First woman_.
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_Who_ came? i.e. _what man, what woman, what person; -- which man, woman_, or _person_, came?
English Grammar in Familiar Lectures Samuel Kirkham
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"You ought to be ashamed of yourself -- a woman -- a _woman_ suggesting she doesn't want a baby!"
Married Life The True Romance May Edginton 1920
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Thackeray, happily, lived at a time before the strong-minded woman had come into fashionat a time when it was generally received and believed that woman is not undeveloped man, but diverse.
Criticisms and Interpretations. IV. By William Samuel Lilly 1917
bilby commented on the word woman
"A man's only as old as the woman he feels."
- Groucho Marx.
December 24, 2007
vanishedone commented on the word woman
Dumbstruck?
(Or is it one of those bugs?)
February 8, 2008
gangerh commented on the word woman
Just liked the idea of the 'more ...' entered for me on the home page feed.
February 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word woman
A woman walks into a bar and asks the bartender for a double entendre...
...so the bartender gives her one.
April 8, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word woman
HA! HA HA!!! Oh, ha, ha, ha, ha!!! I love this joke!
April 8, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word woman
The seven ages of woman:
Baby,
Infant,
Junior miss,
Young woman,
Young woman,
Young woman,
Young woman.
November 10, 2008
dontcry commented on the word woman
A man walks into a bar with a beautiful woman on his arm...
November 10, 2008
whichbe commented on the word woman
One of the few WordNet defintions above for this word, as compared to man, is "someone whose occupation is cleaning".
November 27, 2008
john commented on the word woman
Even if the word has been used that way, that's a dumb definition and it inspires a new tag.
November 27, 2008
dontcry commented on the word woman
A man walks into a bar with a beautiful arm on his woman...
November 27, 2008
whichbe commented on the word woman
The woman then asks, "Why don't you look where you're going?"
November 27, 2008
bilby commented on the word woman
Oh, I thought John was going to tag it Sadie.
November 27, 2008
brobbins commented on the word woman
vacuum, to be in conjunction with
July 24, 2009
antidengki commented on the word woman
No woman is very bad http://www.jutaanpembaca.com/2013/04/konsumen-cerdas-paham-perlindungan.html
April 21, 2013
Logophile77 commented on the word woman
I always assumed woman was a portmanteau of womb and man. A man with a womb.
December 19, 2017