feminine
feminine — adjective
1. relating to the qualities, looks, or conduct that people in a given culture have
relating to the qualities, looks, or conduct that people in a given culture have long seen as characteristic of women.
Madison's bright silk shirt was seen as too feminine by some of her older relatives.
predicative: [noun] + be seen as + feminine
In many communities, caring for children and elderly parents is still viewed as a feminine responsibility.
collocation: feminine + responsibility / duty
The designer created a line of soft jackets and flowing dresses with feminine shapes.
Yuki's grandmother taught her that kindness and patience were traditionally seen as feminine virtues.
At lunch, Noa's uncle said football was not feminine when he was young.
- masculine
having traits traditionally associated with men
文法句型
be + feminine
feminine + noun
用法筆記
This sense describes social perceptions and cultural expectations, not biological facts. What a society considers feminine can vary greatly across time periods and regions.
常見錯誤
2. relating to one of the classes into which nouns, pronouns, and adjectives are gr
relating to one of the classes into which nouns, pronouns, and adjectives are grouped in certain languages, alongside masculine and sometimes neuter.
In French, the word for 'table' is feminine, while the word for 'book' is masculine.
predictative: [noun] + be + feminine [gender]
Chidi found it hard to remember whether 'river' in German is feminine, masculine, or neuter.
When learning Spanish, Eli discovered that most nouns ending in -a are feminine.
In Italian, the word for 'night' — notte — is feminine, while 'day' is a masculine noun.
- feminine gender
fuller term for the same concept
文法句型
be + feminine [gender]
feminine + noun [gender]
用法筆記
Used strictly for grammatical categories in languages with noun classes (e.g. French, Spanish, German, Italian, Latin). A feminine noun does not necessarily refer to something female — it is a grammatical classification.
常見錯誤
3. referring to an English noun formed with a special ending (such as -ess) that in
referring to an English noun formed with a special ending (such as -ess) that indicates the word names a woman or a girl.
The feminine form 'waitress' is used less often today, as many restaurants prefer the term 'server'.
feminine form: base word + -ess; usage note about decline
Élise introduced herself as an 'actor' and asked the organisers not to use the feminine form of the word.
Some feminine animal names like 'lioness' are still common in nature documentaries.
Tamás noticed that the feminine suffix -ess appears in older words such as 'governess' and 'duchess'.
文法句型
feminine form of [noun]
feminine + noun [word form]
用法筆記
Many feminine noun forms ending in -ess (e.g. 'actress', 'stewardess', 'poetess') are declining in use as gender-neutral alternatives (e.g. 'actor', 'flight attendant', 'poet') become preferred. This is a notable shift in modern English.
常見錯誤
feminine — noun
1. a word or grammatical form that belongs to the feminine gender class within a la
a word or grammatical form that belongs to the feminine gender class within a language's system of noun classification.
In Latin, the feminine of 'teacher' ends in -a, while the masculine form ends in -us.
structure: the feminine of [word] + [grammar rule]
Saira opened her grammar notebook and circled every feminine in the morning's vocabulary list.
Students learning Polish must memorise whether each noun is a masculine, a feminine, or a neuter.
The suffix -a in Spanish is a common feminine that helps students guess the noun's gender.
文法句型
the feminine
a feminine
feminine of [noun]
常見錯誤
2. all the traits, behaviours, and features that a given society has historically r
all the traits, behaviours, and features that a given society has historically regarded as belonging to women, viewed as an abstract notion.
The book examines how society's understanding of the feminine has shifted over the past hundred years.
abstract use: the feminine [as a concept]
Paloma's photography explores the relationship between power and the feminine in the early twentieth century.
Some argue that the feminine should be valued just as highly as traditionally masculine traits in the workplace.
Ada's research looks at how the feminine is represented in popular films from the 1920s.
- femininity
more personal and individual; describes the quality of being feminine in a person
- womanhood
broader; can refer to the state or condition of being a woman, not just associated traits
- the masculine
the set of qualities traditionally associated with men
文法句型
the feminine [abstract noun concept]
用法筆記
Distinguish from 'femininity', which usually refers to the quality or state of being feminine in an individual. 'The feminine' as a noun tends to be more abstract and collective, describing a broad concept rather than a personal attribute.