Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “feminism” come from?

Feminism derives from French féminisme, which combines Latin femina with the Latin suffix -inus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dʰeh₁(y)-.

feminism (English): The state of being feminine; femininity; A social...

Definitions

  1. The state of being feminine; femininity; A social...

Ancestry of “feminism”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchféminismefeminism
2French-ïsme-ism, variant of -isme following vowels
3Latin-ismaAlternative form of -ismus; -ism
4Latin-ismus-ism
5Ancient Greek-ισμόςForms abstract nouns
6Ancient Greek-μόςForms abstract nouns
7Proto-Indo-European-mósCreates action/result nouns from verb stems

Words derived from “feminism”

  • ecofeminism
  • postfeminism
  • antifeminism
  • cyberfeminism
  • protofeminism
  • profeminism
  • prefeminism
  • nonfeminism
  • pseudofeminism
  • unfeminism
  • counterfeminism
  • transfeminism
  • anarcho-feminism
  • feminismo
  • フェミニズム
  • feminizmus
  • 페미니즘
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -mós →