femina — Logoi (Latin)

Where it lives

De Virginibus Velandis 21 · 37.67/10k
Carmen Saeculare 1 · 32.36/10k
De Cultu Feminarum 14 · 27.33/10k
Ad Martyras 4 · 26.88/10k
De Oratione 12 · 26.73/10k
Adversus Valentinianos 16 · 25.11/10k
Ad Uxorem 10 · 24.07/10k
de Origine et Situ Germanorum Liber 11 · 19.95/10k
Ars Amatoria 28 · 18.81/10k
Lydia, Appendix Vergiliana 1 · 18.76/10k
De Corona 8 · 16.45/10k
De Consolatione ad Helviam 11 · 16.26/10k

Densest 12 of 190 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. femina — de Vaan

femina 'woman, female' [f. o] (P1.+) Derivatives :^m/m«us 'female, of a woman' (Titinius+). Pit. *femana-t PIE *dhehrmh1n-h2- '(the one) nursing, breastfeeding'. IE cognates: PIE *d h eh r in SkL pf. dadhur 'they have sucked', caus. dhapaya-, inf. dhatave 'to drink', (payo)-dha- [adj.] 'sucking (milk)'; Gr. pr.inf. Αησΰαι, aor. ϋησατο 'he sucked', Latv. del, deju 'to suck', OCS deva 'virgin, maiden', CS detb, Ru. … — [de Vaan, s.v. femina, p. 224]

2. fēmĭna — Lewis & Short

fēmĭna, ae, f.from fe-, fev-, = Gr. fu/-w, to produce; whence: fetus, fecundus, faenus, felix; cf. Sanscr. bhuas, bhavas, to become; Lat. fi-o, fu-turus,

I a female.

I Lit.

A Of human beings, a female, woman (cf.: uxor, mulier, matrona; conjux, marita): ut a prima congressione maris et feminae ... ordiar, Cic. Rep. 1, 24: et mares deos et feminas esse dicitis, id. N. D. 1, 34, 95: ambiguus fuerit modo vir, modo femina Sithon, Ov. M. 4, 280; cf. Lucr. 4, 819: in claris viris et feminis, Cic. Tusc. 1, 12, 27: pulchritudine eximiā femina, id. Div. 1, 25, 52: feminae notitiam habere, Caes. B. G. 6, 21 fin.: naturam feminarum omnem castitatem pati, Cic. Leg. 2, 12, 29; cf. id. Rep. 3, 10 fin.: bona, id. Phil. 3, 6, 16; cf.: praestantissima omnium feminarum, id. Fam. 5, 8, 2: sanctissima atque optima, id. Phil. 3, 6, 16: probatissima, id. Caecin. 4, 10: primaria, id. Fam. 5, 11, 2: decreta super jugandis feminis, Hor. C. S. 19: varium et mutabile semper femina, Verg. A. 4, 570: tunc femina simplex, the female character undisguised, Juv. 6, 327.—Adj.: inter quas Danai femina turba senis, Prop. 2, 31 (3, 29), 4.—Applied as a term of reproach to effeminate men, Ov. M. 12, 470; Sil. 2, 361; Suet. Caes. 22; Just. 1, 3; Curt. 3, 10 fin. al.—

B Of beasts, a female, she: (bestiarum) aliae mares, aliae feminae sunt, Cic. N. D. 2, 51, 128: lupus femina feta repente, Enn. ap. Serv. Verg. A. 2, 355, and ap. Non. 378, 18 (Ann. v. 70 and 73 ed. Vahl.); cf.: habendas triduum ferias et porco femina piaculum pati (shortly before, porca), Cic. Leg. 2, 22, 57: sus, Col. 7, 9, 3: anas, Plin. 29, 5, 33, § 104: anguis, Cic. Div. 1, 18, 36; 2, 29, 62: piscis, Ov. A. A. 2, 482; Plin. 9, 50, 74, § 157; Ov. M. 2, 701.—

II Transf., in the lang. of nat. hist., of plants and minerals: mas in palmite floret, femina citra florem germinat tantum spicae modo, Plin. 13, 4, 7, § 31; ib. § 34; so of other plants, id. 16, 33, 60, § 139; 16, 34, 62, § 145: 21, 10, 32, § 58 et saep.: in omni genere (carbunculorum) masculi appellantur acriores, et feminae languidius refulgentes, Plin. 37, 7, 25, § 92; of the loadstone, id. 36, 16, 25, § 128.—In mechanics, cardo femina, different from cardo masculus (v. cardo, 2), Vitr. 9, 9 med.—

III In gram., the feminine gender, Quint. 1, 6, 12; 1, 4, 24.

In the wild

feminae Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 16.12.p2
femina Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.413
feminarum Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 7.52
feminae Tertullian, De Carne Christi 19
feminas Tertullian, De Oratione 21
feminae Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 13.15.p1

6 of 1,569 attestations shown.

Where it came from

de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) Treated in de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) s.v. femina (scan p. 224; entry #543).
Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine Treated in Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine s.v. fémina (scan p. 248; entry #3844).