woman

Syllables: wom·an/ˈwʊmən/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ˈwɵmən/

woman noun: an adult female human.

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Noun

woman (plural women)

An adult female human.
- the first woman president of Spain
- But this woman is a nice German woman that fell on the ice and sprained her ankle last winter, and we saw to her well as we could till she got better.1887, Helen Campbell, Prisoners of poverty: their trades and their lives, page 120
(collective) All female humans collectively; womankind.
- THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.1776 December 19, Thomas Paine, The American Crisis
- Listen, Holly. Thou art a good and honest man, and I fain would spare thee; but, oh! it is so hard for woman to be merciful.1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “The Balance Turns”, in She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC, page 191
Synonyms:

femininity
A female person, usually an adult: a (generally adult) female sentient being, whether human, supernatural, elf, alien, etc.
- Sir, have you ever served with any Bajoran women?1993, Michael Piller, “Emissary”, in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, season 1, episode 1, spoken by Chief O'Brien (Colm Meaney)
- To be born a woman has been to be born, within an allotted and confined space, into the keeping of men.2003, Amelia Jones, The Feminism and Visual Culture Reader, Psychology Press, →ISBN, page 37
A wife (or sometimes a fiancée or girlfriend).
- Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, So that he shall have no need of spoil.1611, King James, “Proverbs 31:10-31”, in King James Bible, England
- And then, when he lies with his woman, the man may concurrently be with God, and so get increase of his soul.1914, D. H. Lawrence, Study of Thomas Hardy and Other Essays, chapter 7: "Of Being and Not-Being"
A female person who is extremely fond of or devoted to a specified type of thing. (Used as the last element of a compound.)
- Perhaps my problem is that I am a cat woman. I can't imagine any finicky feline (and they all are that at one time or another) slobbering over anyone, even a beloved owner, the way a dog does.2004, Hyveth Williams, Secrets of a Happy Heart: A Fresh Look at the Sermon on the Mount, page 70
A female attendant or servant.
- By her woman I sent your message.1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio)...

Verb

woman (third-person singular simple present womans, present participle womaning or womanning, simple past and past participle womaned or womanned)

To staff with female labor.
- […]he should prove, from the testimony of the most experienced seamen, that the vessel was, if not, strictly speaking, sufficiently manned, yet that she was sufficiently manned and womanned. The Gypsey was a vessel of 43 tons burden, and there were on board two able seamen and the Captain’s wife...1813, “Yorkshire Assizes. May a woman be deemed a sailor sufficient in manning a vessel? Case of Insurance.—Cook v. Thompson.”, in The Literary Panorama, […], volume XIV, London: […] Cox and Baylis...
- Apparently the Sixty-ninth Street office of Bagby Answers, Inc., was being womaned for the day from other offices.1956, Rex Stout, Three Witnesses, The Viking Press, page 54
(transitive) To make effeminate or womanish.
- I have felt so many quirks of joy and grief / That the first face of neither on the start / Can woman me unto't.c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
(transitive) To furnish with, or unite to, a woman.
- And think it no addition, nor my wish, / To have him see me woman'd.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
(transitive) To call (a person) “woman” in a disrespectful fashion.

woman meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

woman in Hindi

adult female person: महिला mahilā, नारी nārī, स्त्री strī, औरत aurat, जनि jani

woman in Tamil

adult female person: பெண் peṇ, ஸ்திரீ stirī

woman in Marathi

adult female person: बाई bāī, स्त्री strī

woman in Urdu

adult female person: عَورَت 'aurat, خاتُون xātūn, زَنانی zanānī, زَن zan, مَہِیلا mahīlā, ناری nārī

More languagesFewer languages

woman in Bengali: নারী nari, মহিলা mohila
woman in Telugu: ఆడది āḍadi, స్త్రీ strī, మహిళ mahiḷa
woman in Malayalam: സ്ത്രീ strī, പെണ്ണ് peṇṇŭ, വനിത vanita, മഹിള mahiḷa
woman in Kannada: ನಾರಿ nāri, ಸ್ತ್ರೀ strī, ಹೆಂಗಸು heṅgasu
woman in Punjabi: ਤਰੀਮਤ tarīmat, ਔਰਤ aurat, ਜ਼ਨਾਨੀ zanānī
woman in Gujarati: સ્ત્રી strī
woman in Odia: ଯୁବା jubā, ସ୍ତ୍ରୀ stri
woman in Sanskrit: स्त्री strī, महिला mahilā, नारी nārī
woman in Sinhala: ගෑනි gǣni
woman in Assamese: তিৰোতা tirüta, মাইকী মানুহ maiki manuh, মহিলা mohila
woman in Nepali: आइमाई āimāī, स्त्री strī
woman in Pashto: ښځه x̌əźa
woman in Tagalog: babae
woman in Arabic: اِمْرَأَة imraʔa
woman in Malay: wanita
woman in Indonesian: perempuan, wanita
woman in Thai: ผู้หญิง pûu-yǐng, ญิง ying
woman in Vietnamese: phụ nữ, đàn bà
woman in Myanmar: မိန်းမ min:ma., အမျိုးသမီး a.myui:sa.mi:
Sindhi: زال zāla
Dhivehi: އަންހެންމީހާ an̊hen̊mīhā
Kashmiri: زَنان zanān, زٔنؠ zạn', ترٕٛے, ज़नान zanān

Examples of woman in a sentence

But of course Britain since 1979 has had a woman prime minister, while no woman has ever come near to being president of the United States.1985, Anthony King, The British Prime Minister, Duke University Press, →ISBN:
She is a sweet, kind, intelligent woman with a generous heart and more love for her child than you and Mother ever showed for either of your children."2012, Kate Welsh, Substitute Daddy, →ISBN:
You can't spend months studying the history of the suffrage movement without gaining a new appreciation for the grit and gumption it takes to be a powerful woman leader.2020 August 18, Veronica Chambers, The Staff of The New York Times, Finish The Fight!: The Brave and Revolutionary Women Who Fought for the...
Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

All 40 example sentences with woman

Synonyms of woman

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

man
girl

All synonyms and antonyms of woman

Forms of woman

Noun
plural	women
alternative form	womxn
alternative form	womyn
alternative form	wom*n
alternative form	wymyn
alternative form	womin
alternative form	wommon
alternative form	womon
alternative form	wimin
alternative form	wimmin
alternative form	wimmen
alternative form	wymmyn
alternative form	weoman
alternative form	whoman
alternative form	wimen
alternative form	womans
alternative form	womens
Verb
third-person singular present	womans
present participle	womaning
present participle	womanning

Plural of woman: women

Origin of woman

From Middle English womman, from earlier wimman, wifman, from Old English wīfmann (“woman”, literally “female person”), a compound of wīf (“woman, female”, whence English wife) + mann (“person, human being”, whence English man). For details on the pronunciation and spelling history, see the usage notes below. Cognate with Scots woman, weman (“woman”), Saterland Frisian Wieuwmoanske (“female person, female human, woman”). Similar construction can be found in West Frisian frommes (“woman, girl”) (from frou and minske, literally "woman human") and Afrikaans vroumens (“woman”, literally “woman-person”). Further information on vocalic development The current pronunciation of the first vowel of the singular began to appear in western England in the 13th century under the rounding influence of the w, though the older pronunciation with /i/ (→ modern /ɪ/) remained in use into the 15th century. Although the vowel of the plural was sometimes also altered to /u/ (→ modern /ʊ/) beginning in the 14th century, the pronunciation with /ɪ/ ultimately won out there, possibly under the influence of pairs like foot–feet. However, some speakers (especially of New Zealand English or South African...

Words formed from woman

Phrases with woman

80 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with woman

toman
womxn

Questions about woman

What does woman mean?: Woman means an adult female human.
What is woman in Hindi?: Woman in Hindi is महिला (mahilā), नारी (nārī), स्त्री (strī). See Woman meaning in Hindi.
How do you use woman in a sentence?: But of course Britain since 1979 has had a woman prime minister, while no woman has ever come near to being president of the United States.
What part of speech is woman?: Woman can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce woman?: Woman is pronounced /ˈwʊmən/ (UK).
What is the plural of woman?: The plural of woman is women.

Words near woman in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: woman (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: WomanWav.wav, En-uk-woman.ogg.

Cite this entry: “woman.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/woman. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.