kobieta

See also: kobietą

Polish

Etymology

Considered derogatory until the 19th century; now the standard, neutral word. Origin uncertain; probably either from Old Polish kob (“pigpen”) or koba (“mare”) (the suffix -ieta is found in some contemporaneous female names (Markieta, Elżbieta, Greta)) or may derive from Proto-Slavic *kobь, from Proto-Indo-European *kob-. Displaced niewiasta (now considered poetic) and żona (meaning narrowed down to "wife"). Akin to Belarusian кабе́та (kabjéta, “married woman”), (obsolete) Russian кобь (kobʹ), Old Norse happ (“good luck”), Old Irish cob (“victory”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /kɔˈbjɛ.ta/
Audio (file)
Rhymes: -ɛta
Syllabification: ko‧bie‧ta

Noun

kobieta f (diminutive kobietka)

woman
Synonyms: białogłowa, dama, facetka, kobiałka, niewiasta
Coordinate term: mężczyzna

Declension

Declension of kobieta

	singular	plural
nominative	kobieta	kobiety
genitive	kobiety	kobiet
dative	kobiecie	kobietom
accusative	kobietę	kobiety
instrumental	kobietą	kobietami
locative	kobiecie	kobietach
vocative	kobieto	kobiety

Derived terms

adjective

kobiecy

References

Brückner, Aleksander (1927), “kobieta”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish), Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna, page 241