English Explanatory Dictionary

feminism

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The state of being feminine; femininity.
  2. A social theory or political movement which argues that legal and social restrictions on women must be removed in order to bring about equality of the sexes in all aspects of public and private life.

Pronunciation

/ˈfɛmɪnɪz(ə)m/ En-us-feminism.oga

Word forms

feminism feminisms

Etymology

From French féminisme circa 1837, ultimately from Latin fēminīnus, from fēmina (“woman”). In the original sense of “women's movement or advocacy”, the French word was probably directly derived from fēmina, as if from Neo-Latin feminismus. First recorded in English in 1851, originally meaning “the state of being feminine”. Sense of “advocacy of women's rights” is from 1895.

Antonyms

antifeminism

Related words

femicentric feminazi feminine femininity femininize feminist feministic feministical feministically feminocentric feminocentrism egalitarianism equalism

Derived words

anti-feminism antifeminism biofeminism counterfeminism femifascism feminationalism femonationalism femvertising meninism nonfeminism parafeminism postfeminism post-feminism prefeminism pre-feminism profeminism pro-feminism pseudo-feminism pseudofeminism STEMinism unfeminism xenofeminism xenofeminist
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