Meanings
plural femocrats
- AustraliaA 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 1202 more examples
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
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁(y)-
- Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-éh₂
- Proto-Italic*θēmanā
- Proto-Italic*fēmanā
- Latinfēmina
- Latinfēmella
- Old Frenchfemele
- Middle Englishfemele
- Middle Englishfemale
- Englishfemale
- Proto-Indo-European*péh₂wr̥
- Proto-Hellenic*pāwər
- Ancient Greekπῦρ (pûr)
- Ancient Greekπῠρρός (pŭrrhós)
- Latinburrus
- Latinburra
- Old French*bure
- Old Frenchburel
- Frenchbureau
- Proto-Indo-European*kret-
- Ancient Greekκρᾰ́τος (krắtos)
- Frenchbureaucratie
- Frenchbureaucrate
- Englishbureaucrat
- Englishfemocrat
Blend of female + bureaucrat.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
femocrat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/femocrat
“femocrat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/femocrat. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “femocrat,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/femocrat.
Source: femocrat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.