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woman definition

woman (wo̵omən)

noun pl. women wom′en (wimən)

    1. the female human being
    2. women collectively
  1. an adult female human being
  2. a female servant
    1. Dialectal a wife
    2. a sweetheart or a mistress
  3. womanly qualities or characteristics; femininity the woman in her

Etymology: ME wumman < OE wimmann < wifmann < wif, female, wife + mann, human being, man: rounding of vowel due to infl. of the initial w-

adjective

  1. of or characteristic of a woman or women; feminine
  2. female a woman scientist
woman Idioms

the little woman

Slang one's wife

the other woman

Informal the woman with whom a married man had or is having an affair

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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