woman Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
    adult female.
    • the woman kept house while the man hunted
  2. noun a female person who plays a significant role (wife or mistress or girlfriend) in the life of a particular man
    • he was faithful to his woman
  3. noun a human female employed to do housework
    char; cleaning woman; charwoman; cleaning lady.
    • the char will clean the carpet
    • I have a woman who comes in four hours a day while I write
  4. noun women as a class
    womanhood; fair sex.
    • it's an insult to American womanhood
    • woman is the glory of creation
    • the fair sex gathered on the veranda

WordNet

Wom"an noun
Etymology
OE. woman, womman, wumman, wimman, wifmon, AS. wifmann, wimmann; wif woman, wife + mann a man. See Wife, and Man.
Wordforms
plural Women
Definitions
  1. An adult female person; a grown-up female person, as distinguished from a man or a child; sometimes, any female person.
    Women are soft, mild pitiful, and flexible. Shak.
    And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman. Gen. ii. 22.
    I have observed among all nations that the women ornament themselves more than the men; that, wherever found, they are the same kind, civil, obliging, humane, tender beings, inclined to be gay and cheerful, timorous and modest. J. Ledyard.
  2. The female part of the human race; womankind.
    Man is destined to be a prey to woman. Thackeray.
  3. A female attendant or servant. " By her woman I sent your message." Shak.
Wom"an transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To act the part of a woman in; -- with indefinite it. Daniel.
  2. To make effeminate or womanish. R. Shak.
  3. To furnish with, or unite to, a woman. R. "To have him see me woman'd." Shak.

Webster 1913