Webster's English Dictionary

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feminine

1. fem.i.nine \'fem-*-n*n\ \-n*(n)-n*s\ aj [ME, fr. MF feminin, fr. L 
   femininus, fr. femina woman; akin]to OE delu nipple, L filius son, felix, 
   fetus, & fecundus fruitful, felare to suck, Gk the-le- nipple 1: FEMALE  2: 
   characteristic of or appropriate or peculiar to women  3: of, relating to, 
   or constituting the gender that ordinarily includes mo st words or 
   grammatical forms referring to females 4a: having an unstressed and usu. 
   hypermetric final syllable {~ en ding} of rhyme  4b: occurring in the last 
   metrically stressed syllable and a final light s yllable (as in motion, 
   ocean) 4c: having the final chord occurring on a weak beat {music in ~ ca 
   dences}EMINATE, LADYLIKE: FEMININE applies to qualities or attitudes 
   characteristic of women and not shared by men; FEMALE stresses the fact of 
   sex; used otherwise than scientifically or statistically it has a 
   contemptuous or patronizing suggestion; WOMANLY suggests qualities esp. 
   associated with the ideal wife or mother; WOMANLIKE suggests faults and 
   foibles thought typical of women; WOMANISH implies weakness and 
   emotionalism and is used chiefly in reference to a man; EFFEMINATE 
   emphasizes the softer or more delicate aspects of a woman's attitudes and 
   behavior and applies chiefly to men, implying a lack of virility or 
   masculinity; LADYLIKE suggests decorous propriety or, in reference to boys 
   and men, may impute primness, daintiness, or lack of expected masculine 
   force and strength - fem.i.nine.ly av SYN syn FEMALE, WOMANLY, WOMANLIKE, 
   WOMANISH, EFF 
2. feminine n 1: the female principle {eternal ~}  2a: a noun, pronoun, 
   adjective, or inflectional form or class of the femini ne gender 2b: the 
   feminine gender