Etymograph

English

femina

Femina comes from Latin fēmina ‘woman’, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-éh₂ ‘􂀿the one􂁀 nursing, breastfeeding’, and ultimately from *dʰeh₁(y)- ‘to suckle, nurse’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁(y)-1‘to suckle, nurse’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-éh₂1‘􂀿the one􂁀 nursing, breastfeeding’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*θēmanā1reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fēmanā1reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfēmina2‘woman’by way of Italian femmina
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1881femina2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin femina
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English femina
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1881, Arthur Douglass, Preparing the Feathers for Market: “The numbers are given here to show all the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁(y)-Wiktionary, Latin femina‘to suckle, nurse’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-éh₂Wiktionary, Latin femina‘􂀿the one􂁀 nursing, breastfeeding’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*θēmanāWiktionary, Latin feminareconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fēmanāWiktionary, Latin feminareconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfēminaWiktionary, English femina‘woman’by way of Italian femmina
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1881feminaWiktionary, English femina. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1881, Arthur Douglass, Preparing the Feathers for Market: “The numbers are given here to show all the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- ‘to suckle, nurse’

doe, tyre, fetus, dai, felicity, fawn, filial, fellatio, fecundity, dahi, 32 more

through Latin fēmina ‘woman’

female, femme, effeminate, 12 more

Today it means

noun A wing feather from a female ostrich.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “femina”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin femina. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- / femina

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