Dictionary

femocrat en · NOUN

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)-der. Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-éh₂ Proto-Italic *θēmanā Proto-Italic *fēmanā Latin fēmina Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Indo-European *-elós Proto-Italic *-elos Latin -lus Latin fēmella Old French femelebor. Middle English femele Middle English female English female Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥ Proto-Hellenic *pāwər Ancient Greek πῦρ (pûr) Proto-Indo-European *-rós Proto-Hellenic *-rós Ancient Greek -ρός (-rós) Ancient Greek πῠρρός (pŭrrhós)bor. Latin burrus Latin burra Old French *bure ▲ Latin -lus Latin -ellus Old French -el Old French burel French bureau Proto-Indo-European *kret-der. Ancient Greek κρᾰ́τος (krắtos) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek -κρᾰτῐ́ᾱ (-krătĭ́ā)lbor. French -cratie French bureaucratie French bureaucratebor. English bureaucrat blend English femocrat Blend of female + bureaucrat.

Meanings

1. (Australia) A female politician or senior civil servant; a female bureaucrat in an agency dealing with women's issues.
   • Despite working in a difficult environment, femocrats have made an important contribution to Australian politics over the past two decades. 1999, Elizabeth Van Acker, Different Voices: Gender and Politics in Australia, page 120:
   • 2000, Jan Jindy Pettman, “Femocrats,” entry in Cheris Kramarae, Dale Spender (editors) Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women: Education: Health to Hypertension, page 847, Femocrats also carry the burden of representation, if they are expected to speak for all women; or, alternatively, they are dismissed as “unrepresentative” of ordinary women and so not entitled to speak for them.
   • These moves were made by femocrats in part to avoid marginalization in women′s units, but in moving to new positions, old ones came up for grabs. 2006, Louise A. Chappell, Lisa Hill, The Politics of Women's Interests: New Comparative Perspectives, page 166:

Forms