Etymology

feminism

fem·in·ism
F4E1M3I1N1I1S1M3

Today it means: 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. Full definition →

First used 1851; less common after 1895French féminisme ← Latin fēminīnu ← Proto-Italic *fēmanā
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁(y)-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-éh₂
  3. Proto-Italic*θēmanā
  4. Proto-Italic*fēmanā
  5. Latinfēmina
  6. Latinfēminīnu
  7. Frenchféminin
  8. Frenchféminisme
  9. English todayfeminism

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. By surface analysis, feminine + -ism. First recorded in English in 1851, originally meaning “the state of being feminine”. Sense of “advocacy of women's rights” is from 1895.

Words from the same roots

Latinfēminīnus all →

feministfeminine

First known use, by meaning

  • from 1851; less common after 1895 The state of being feminine; femininity.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.