woman; wife; alternative form of fem (“femme, feminine lesbian”) (contrast butch)
“Ta grandeur morale, image de l’infini, est immense comme la réflexion du philosophe, comme l’amour de la femme, comme la beauté divine de l’oiseau, comme les méditations du poète. Tu es plus beau que la nuit. Réponds-moi, océan, veux-tu être mon frère ?” — Your moral grandeur, image of infinity, is as vast as the philosopher's reflections, as woman's love, as the divine beauty of the bird, as the meditations of the poet. You are more beautiful than the night. Answer me, ocean, will you be my brother ?
Synonyms: épouse
Inherited from Middle French femme, from Old French fam(m)e, fem(m)e, fenme, from Latin fēmina, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-éh₂ (“(the one) nursing, breastfeeding”), derivation of the verbal root *dʰeh₁(y)- (“to suck, suckle”). The Old French pronunciation was [fɛ̃mə], which then became [fãmə] through lowering of nasal vowels, finally [famə] in Middle French through denasalisation before /m/, /n/. Other words in which -e- is pronounced /a/ include couenne, solennel, and the adverbs in