Etymograph

English

chairwoman

Chairwoman comes from Old English wīfmann ‘woman’.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150wīfmann1‘woman’
  2. Englishearliest quotation a. 1746chairwoman1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English chairwoman
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: a. 1746, Jonathan Swift, (please specify the title): “[…]according to her skill and qualifications, whether in the…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150wīfmannWiktionary, English chairwoman‘woman’
  2. Englishearliest quotation a. 1746chairwomanWiktionary, English chairwoman. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: a. 1746, Jonathan Swift, (please specify the title): “[…]according to her skill and qualifications, whether in the…”

A compound of wīf ‘woman’ + mann ‘person’

Proto-Indo-European *gʰwíbʰ- ‘pudenda’

Proto-Germanic *wībą ‘woman’

Proto-West Germanic *wīb ‘woman’

Old English wīf ‘woman’

Proto-Indo-European *mon- ‘man, human being’

Proto-Germanic *mann- ‘human, human being, person, individual’

Proto-West Germanic *mann ‘person, human, individual’

Old English mann ‘person’

Every English word from Old English wīfmann

Today it means

noun A female chairperson

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “chairwoman”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Old English wīfmann / chairwoman

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