Where does “feminine” come from?

Feminine comes from Middle English femynyne, from Old French feminin, from Latin femininus, derived from the feminine suffix -inus and the Proto-Indo-European root dʰeh₁(y)- meaning to suckle or nurse.

feminine (English): Of or pertaining to the female gender; womanly;...

Definitions

  1. Of or pertaining to the female gender; womanly;...

Ancestry of “feminine”, step by step

feminine traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle English femynyne

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishfemynynefemale of feminine sex or gender
2Old Frenchfeminin—
3Latinfemininusfeminine; of or relating to the feminine gender
4Latin-inusOf or pertaining to; -ine
5Proto-Italic-īnosof/belonging to
6Proto-Indo-European-iHnosCreates adjectives of materials
7Proto-Indo-European-no-adjectival suffix

via French féminin

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchfémininfeminine; female
2Latinfēminīnusfeminine
3Latin-īnusof or pertaining to; -ine
4Ancient Greek-ῐνοςadded to nouns or adverbs to form adjectives relating to material, time, and so on: made of, during the time of

Words derived from “feminine”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -no- →Every word from Latin -inus →Every word from Proto-Italic -īnos →