womanhood

womanhood

English

Alternative forms

• womanhead (obsolete)
• womonhood, womynhood, wommonhood (feminist spellings; rare; see usage notes at woman)

Etymology

From Middle English womanhoode, wommanhod, whomanhode, variants of Middle English womanhede, equivalent to woman +‎ -hood.

Noun

womanhood (countable and uncountable, plural womanhoods)

1. The state of being a woman.
2. All the qualities typical of women.
3. Women considered as a group.
4. (euphemistic) The vulva.
   • 2007, Mark A. Cherpak, Circle of Fear: Uncharted Worlds (page 264)

     Easing down to her panties slowly as if investigating a carrier of a dangerous plague, both hands were quivering like it was contagious while feeling extraordinarily alarmed, he commenced to inspect her womanhood.

Related terms

• manhood

Translations

state of being a woman

Finnish: naiseus (fi) French: féminité (fr) German: Weiblichkeit (de) f, Fraulichkeit f, Frausein n Latin: muliebris status Maori: wahinetanga

Russian: же́нственность (ru) f (žénstvennostʹ) Swedish: kvinnlighet (sv) c Telugu: స్త్రీత్వము (strītvamu) Turkish: kadınlık (tr)

qualities considered typical for a woman

Finnish: naisellisuus (fi) French: féminité (fr) German: Fraulichkeit f

Latvian: sievišķība f Russian: же́нственность (ru) f (žénstvennostʹ) Swedish: kvinnlighet (sv) c

women as a group

Finnish: naiset (fi), naisväki (fi) German: alle Frauen f pl, Frauen (de) f pl

Maori: hunga wāhine Russian: же́нский пол m (žénskij pol), же́нщины (ru) f pl (žénščiny)