feminine
/ˈfɛmɪnɪn/
"feminine" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“feminine” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #8,144 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #8,144
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of or pertaining to the female gender.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | feminine |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈfɛmɪnɪn/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #8,144 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “feminine” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for feminine is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfɛmɪnɪn/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,144 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for feminine, with forms such as "efminine", "feimnine", and "femiinne". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "feminist", "feminism", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English feminine, femynyne, femynyn, from Old French feminin, feminine, from Latin fēminīnus, from fēmina (“woman”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-eh₂ (“(the one) nursing, breastfeeding”). Related to fetus, feminism, filial, fellatio. The correct English form is feminine, spelled F-E-M-I-N-I-N-E.
Definition
- 1Of or pertaining to the female gender.
- 2Of or pertaining to the female sex; biologically female, not male.
- 3Belonging to females; typically used by females.
- 4Having the qualities stereotypically associated with women: nurturing, not aggressive, sensual; womanly.
- 5Of, pertaining or belonging to the female grammatical gender, in languages that have gender distinctions.
- 6Of, pertaining or belonging to the female grammatical gender, in languages that have gender distinctions.
- 7Having the vowel harmony of a front vowel.
- 8Following or ending on an unstressed syllable.
Etymology
From Middle English feminine, femynyne, femynyn, from Old French feminin, feminine, from Latin fēminīnus, from fēmina (“woman”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-eh₂ (“(the one) nursing, breastfeeding”). Related to fetus, feminism, filial, fellatio.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: efminine,feimnine,femiinne,feminien,femininne,feminnie,feminnine,femminine,femniine,ffeminine,fmeinine
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of feminine - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "feminine"?
What does "feminine" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "feminine"?
How do you pronounce "feminine"?
What is the origin of the word "feminine"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “feminine”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-E-M-I-N-I-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈfɛmɪnɪn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “feminist” - see the side-by-side comparison. feminine vs feminist
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.