Unnumbered source etymology · variant 1/2
Original entry ↗An adult female human. · All female humans collectively; womankind. · A female person, usually an adult: a (generally adult) female sentient being, whether human, supernatural, elf, alien, etc. · A wife (or sometimes a fiancée or girlfriend).
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *wībą Proto-West Germanic *wīb Old English wīf Proto-Indo-European *mon- Proto-Germanic *mann- Proto-West Germanic *mann Old English mann Old English wīfmann Middle English womman English woman 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 construction can be found in West Frisian frommes (“woman, girl”) (from frou and minske, literally "woman human") and Afrikaans vroumens (“woman”, literally “woman-person”). Further information on vocalic development The current pronunciation of the first vowel of the singular began to appear in western England in the 13th century under the rounding influence of the w, though the older pronunciation with /i/ (→ modern /ɪ/) remained in use into the 15th century. Although the vowel of the plural was sometimes also altered to /u/ (→ modern /ʊ/) beginning in the 14th century, the pronunciation with /ɪ/ ultimately won out there, possibly under the influence of pairs like foot–feet. However, some speakers (especially of New Zealand English or South African English) have either retained or reinnovated the pronunciation of the plural with /ʊ/. The modern spelling women for the plural is due to influence of the singular; it is attested from the 15th century. For a time in the 16th and 17th centuries, the pronunciation of the singular sometimes drifted even further back towards /uː/ or /ɔː~oː/ (→ modern /oʊ~əʊ/) and the plural sometimes drifted even further forward towards /iː/, leading to comparisons of the words to "woe man" or "we men".)
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentionwommanenm
- Inherited-form mentionwīfmannang
- Cognate mentionwifeen
- Cognate mentionmanen
- Compound componentwīfang · woman, female
- Compound componentmannang · person, human being
- Cognate mentionwomansco
- Cognate mentionWieuwmoanskestq · female person, female human, woman
- Cognate mentionvroumensaf · woman
This page abbreviates 2 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "etymon",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:womman",
"tree": "+"
},
"expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Germanic *wībą\nProto-West Germanic *wīb\nOld English wīf\nProto-Indo-European *mon-\nProto-Germanic *mann-\nProto-West Germanic *mann\nOld English mann\nOld English wīfmann\nMiddle English womman\nEnglish woman\n[Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*wīb\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"wīf\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" }, { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*mon-\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*mann-\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*mann\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"mann\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"wīfmann\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"womman\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"woman\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"woman\">"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "womman"
},
"expansion": "Middle English womman"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "wīfmann",
"4": "",
"5": "woman",
"lit": "female person"
},
"expansion": "Old English wīfmann (“woman”, literally “female person”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "wife"
},
"expansion": "English wife"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "man"
},
"expansion": "English man"
},
{
"name": "com",
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "wīf",
"3": "mann",
"nocat": "1",
"pos1": "whence English <i class=\"Latn mention\" lang=\"en\">wife</i>",
"pos2": "whence English <i class=\"Latn mention\" lang=\"en\">man</i>",
"t1": "woman, female",
"t2": "person, human being"
},
"expansion": "wīf (“woman, female”, whence English wife) + mann (“person, human being”, whence English man)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sco",
"2": "woman"
},
"expansion": "Scots woman"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "stq",
"2": "Wieuwmoanske",
"t": "female person, female human, woman"
},
"expansion": "Saterland Frisian Wieuwmoanske (“female person, female human, woman”)"
},
{
"name": "noncog",
"args": {
"1": "fy",
"2": "frommes",
"t": "woman, girl"
},
"expansion": "West Frisian frommes (“woman, girl”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "af",
"2": "vroumens",
"t": "woman",
"lit": "woman-person"
},
"expansion": "Afrikaans vroumens (“woman”, literally “woman-person”)"
},
{
"name": "col-top",
"args": {
"1": "2",
"2": "Further information on vocalic development"
},
"expansion": "Further information on vocalic development"
},
{
"name": "etymon",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:womman",
"tree": "+"
},
"expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Germanic *wībą\nProto-West Germanic *wīb\nOld English wīf\nProto-Indo-European *mon-\nProto-Germanic *mann-\nProto-West Germanic *mann\nOld English mann\nOld English wīfmann\nMiddle English womman\nEnglish woman"
}
],
"links": [
[
"*wībą",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/wībą#Proto-Germanic:_woman"
],
[
"*wīb",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/wīb#Proto-West_Germanic:_woman"
],
[
"wīf",
"wif#Old_English"
],
[
"*mon-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/mon-"
],
[
"*mann-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/mann-"
],
[
"*mann",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/mann"
],
[
"mann",
"mann#Old_English"
],
[
"wīfmann",
"wifmann#Old_English"
],
[
"womman",
"womman#Middle_English"
],
[
"womman",
"womman#Middle_English"
],
[
"wimman",
"wimman#Middle_English"
],
[
"wifman",
"wifman#Middle_English"
],
[
"wīfmann",
"wifmann#Old_English"
],
[
"wīf",
"wif#Old_English"
],
[
"wife",
"wife#English"
],
[
"mann",
"mann#Old_English"
],
[
"man",
"man#English"
],
[
"woman",
"woman#Scots"
],
[
"weman",
"weman#Scots"
],
[
"Wieuwmoanske",
"Wieuwmoanske#Saterland_Frisian"
],
[
"frommes",
"frommes#West_Frisian"
],
[
"frou",
"frou#West_Frisian"
],
[
"minske",
"minske#West_Frisian"
],
[
"vroumens",
"vroumens#Afrikaans"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "Antigua and Barbuda Creole English",
"lang_code": "aig",
"word": "uman"
},
{
"lang": "Jamaican Creole",
"lang_code": "jam",
"word": "ooman"
},
{
"lang": "Krio",
"lang_code": "kri",
"word": "uman"
},
{
"lang": "Sranan Tongo",
"lang_code": "srn",
"word": "uma",
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "Aukan",
"lang_code": "djk",
"word": "uman"
}
]
},
{
"lang": "Sranan Tongo",
"lang_code": "srn",
"word": "oema",
"raw_tags": [
"superseded"
],
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "Aukan",
"lang_code": "djk",
"word": "uman"
}
]
},
{
"lang": "Torres Strait Creole",
"lang_code": "tcs",
"word": "oman"
},
{
"lang": "Japanese",
"lang_code": "ja",
"word": "ウーマン",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "ūman"
},
{
"lang": "Korean",
"lang_code": "ko",
"word": "우먼",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "umeon"
},
{
"lang": "Volapük",
"lang_code": "vo",
"word": "vom",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
}
],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"An adult female human.",
"All female humans collectively; womankind.",
"A female person, usually an adult: a (generally adult) female sentient being, whether human, supernatural, elf, alien, etc.",
"A wife (or sometimes a fiancée or girlfriend)."
],
"tags": [
"collective"
],
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"sourceRecordOrdinal": 14082
}
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}