womanliness en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈwʊmənlɪnəs/
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree English womanly Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English womanliness From womanly + -ness.
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) The condition of being a woman; femininity.
As she walked along to-day, for all her bouncing handsome womanliness, you could sometimes see her twelfth year in her cheeks, or her ninth sparkling from her eyes; and even her fifth would flit over the curves of her mouth now and then.
1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 21:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| womanlinesses | Number=Plur | lexicographic |