woman

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   An adult female human.

   The woman next door is a doctor.

2. 2
   noun

   Women considered as a group.

   The campaign aims to improve the rights of women everywhere.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Woman comes from Old English wīfmon or wīfman, a compound of wīf, then meaning “woman,” and man, then meaning “person.” Its original literal sense was therefore “female person.”

From Middle English womman, from earlier wimman, wifman, from Old English wīfmann (“woman”, literally “female person”), a compound of wīf (“woman, female”, whence English wife) + mann (“person, human being”, whence English man). For details on the pronunciation and spelling history, see the usage notes below. Cognate with Scots woman, weman (“woman”), Saterland Frisian Wieuwmoanske (“female person, female human, woman”). Similar constructions can be found in West Frisian frommes (“woman, girl”) (from frou and minske, literally "woman human"). Further information on vocalic development The curr…

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary