woman

• n. 妇女；女性；成年女子

词态变化

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中文词源

缩写自古英语wifman,女人，wif-,女人，词源同wife,man,人。

英文词源

woman

woman: [OE] A woman is etymologically a ‘wife-man’ – that is to say, a ‘female person’. The word was compounded in the Old English period from wīf ‘woman’ (source of modern English wife) and man ‘person’ (source of modern English man). Already by the end of the Old English period the f of wifman was disappearing, giving wiman, and the influence of the w sound started to turn this into woman in the 13th century. Woman did not finally oust the two more ancient words for ‘female person’, wife and the now obsolete quean, until the end of the Middle English period.
=> man, wife

woman (n.)

"adult female human," late Old English wimman, wiman (plural wimmen), literally "woman-man," alteration of wifman (plural wifmen) "woman, female servant" (8c.), a compound of wif "woman" (see wife) + man "human being" (in Old English used in reference to both sexes; see man (n.)). Compare Dutch vrouwmens "wife," literally "woman-man."

It is notable that it was thought necessary to join wif, a neuter noun, representing a female person, to man, a masc. noun representing either a male or female person, to form a word denoting a female person exclusively. [Century Dictionary]

The formation is peculiar to English and Dutch. Replaced older Old English wif and quean as the word for "female human being." The pronunciation of the singular altered in Middle English by the rounding influence of -w-; the plural retains the original vowel. Meaning "wife," now largely restricted to U.S. dialectal use, is attested from mid-15c. Woman-hater "misogynist" is from c. 1600. Women's work is from 1660s. Women's liberation is attested from 1966; women's rights is from 1840, with an isolated example in 1630s.

双语例句

1. When the right woman comes along, this bad dream will be over.

当有合适的女人出现时，这种胡思乱想就会停止了。

来自柯林斯例句

2. The Inspector remembered her as a small, mousy woman, invariably worried.

检察官记得，她是一个矮小、羞怯、总是闷闷不乐的人。

来自柯林斯例句

3. These days work plays an important part in a single woman's life.

现在，工作在单身女性的生活中起着重要作用。

来自柯林斯例句

4. She has now changed into a happy, self-confident woman.

如今她已经变成一个快乐、自信的女人。

来自柯林斯例句

5. She was the only woman in Shell's legal department.

她是壳牌公司法律事务部唯一的女性。

来自柯林斯例句