| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
| |
| effeminate |
| |
| SYLLABICATION: | ef·fem·i·nate |
| PRONUNCIATION: |   -f m  -nt |
| ADJECTIVE: | 1. Having qualities or characteristics more often associated with women than men. See synonyms at female. 2. Characterized by weakness and excessive refinement. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English effeminat, from Latin eff min tus, past participle of effminre, to make feminine : ex-, ex- + fmina, woman; see dh(i)- in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | ef·femi·nate —NOUN
ef·femi·nate·ly —ADVERB
ef·femi·nate·ness —NOUN
| | |
| |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
|
|
