femalize 
And when they consider, besides this, the very formation 
of the word Kon'oroijuocriirr) upon the model of the other fe- 
malte'd virtues, the Evyvtanotrvvr], 2w<pocrvf7j, Ai*taioaiiv>j, 
&c they will no longer hesitate on this interpretation. 
Shaftetbury, Freedom of Wit and Humour, iii. 
"Penalized Christian names " used to be far more com- 
mon than they are now. N. and Q., 7th ser., III. 178. 
feme, femme (f em ; P. pron. f am), n. [OF. feme, 
femme, F. femme = Pr. femna = Sp. hernbra, 
fembra = It. femina, femmina, < L. femina, wo- 
man: eee female.] A woman Baron and feme. 
See baron, 3. Feme covert, a married woman, who is 
considered as being under the influence and protection of 
her husband. Also called cowrt-baron. Feme sole, in 
law: (a) An unmarried woman, whether a spinster or a 
widow. (6) A married woman who with respect to prop- 
erty is as independent of her husband as if she were un- 
married. 
femerel (fetn'e-rel), n. [Also written femerell 
and fomerell; <! F. as if "femerelle for 'fumerette 
(as F.fumier, dung, a dunghill, for OF.femier), 
< fumer, smoke, < L. fumare: see fume. ~\ In 
arch., a lantern, dome, or cover placed on the 
roof of a kitchen, hall, etc., for the purpose of 
ventilation or for the escape of smoke. Also 
fumerell. 
femicide (fem'i-sid), n. [For 'femimcide, < L. 
femina, a woman, + -cidium, killing, < ccedere, 
kill.] The killing of a woman. Wharton. 
feminacy (fem'i-na-si), n. [< femina(te) + -cy.] 
Female nature ; fe'minality. Bulwer. [Rare.] 
feminal (fem'i-nal), a. [< L. femina, woman, + 
-a?.] Female ; belonging to a woman. [Bare.] 
For wealth or fame, or honour feminal. 
West, Abuse of Travelling. 
feminality (fem-i-nal'i-ti), n. [< feminal + 
-ity.~\ The state of being female; female na- 
ture. 
So if in the minority of natural vigour, the parts of femi- 
iMlity take place ; when upon the encrease or growth 
thereof the masculine appear, the first design of nature is 
atchieved, and those parts are after maintained. 
Sir T. Broime, Vulg. Err., Iii. 17. 
feminatet (fem'i-nat), a. [< L. feminatus, made 
womanish, </<?o, woman: see female.] Fem- 
inine; female. 
A nation warlike, and inured to practice 
Of policy and labour, cannot brook 
Afeminate authority. Ford, Broken Heart. 
femineity (fem-i-ne'i-ti), n. [= Sp. feminei- 
dad, < L. as if *fcmmeita(t-)s, < femineits, wo- 
manly, feminine, < femina, a woman : see fe- 
male.'] Female nature ; feminality. Coleritlye. 
[Rare.] 
feminine (fem'i-nin), a. and n. [< ME. femi- 
nine, -yne, -yn, < OF. feminin, F. feminin = Pr. 
femenin, feminin = Sp. femenino = Pg. femi- 
nino = It. femminino, < L. femininus, feminine 
(only in the grammatical sense), < femina, a 
woman, female : see female.'] I. a. 1. Pertain- 
ing to a woman or to women, or to the (human) 
female sex ; having the distinguishing char- 
acters or nature of that sex; having qualities 
especially characteristic of woman. 
A sou\ feminine saluteth us. Shak., L. L. L., iv. 2. 
Of which Manly faeminiue people [Amazons] ancient 
Authours disagree. Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 319. 
Her heavenly form 
Angelic, but more soft, and feminine. 
Milton, P. L., ix. 468. 
Her [Elizabeth Villers's] letters are remarkably deficient 
in feminine ease and grace. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xx. 
The virtues specially eommended to the respect and 
imitation of the faithful in the canonized saints of the 
Roman Calendar are mostly of the passive and ascetic, or, 
as it is sometimes termed, of the feminine type. 
H. N. Oxenham, Short Studies, p. 35. 
2. Effeminate ; destitute of manly qualities. 
Ninus was no man of war at all, but altogether feminine. 
Raleigh, Hist. World. 
3. In gram., of the gender or classification un- 
der which are included words which apply to fe- 
males only : said of words or terminations. The 
feminine form is often indicated by a change in the ter- 
mination of the masculine word or corresponding termina- 
tion, or by a special suffix : thus, in Latin, dominus, a lord, 
is masculine ; but domina, a mistress, is feminine. Abbre- 
viated/ei. Feminine cesura. See cesura. Feminine 
number, an even number. Feminine rime, a rime be- 
tween words each of which terminates in an unaccented 
syllable or syllables, as between very and merry, or be- 
tween verily and merrily. See rimel. Feminine sign 
of the zodiac, in astral., one of the even signs, the 2d, 4th, 
6th,etc.=Syn. Female, Feminine, E/emhiate,Womanish, 
Womanly, Ladylike soft, tender, delicate. Female ap- 
plies to women and their apparel, to the corresponding 
sex in animals, and by figure to some inanimate things : 
feminine, to women and their attributes, to the second 
grammatical gender; effeminate, only to men. Female 
applies to that which distinctively belongs to woman ; 
feminine, commonly, to the softer, more delicate or grace- 
ful qualities of woman, the qualities being always natural 
and commendable : as, feminine grace ; effeminate, to qual- 
ities which, though they might be proper and becoming 
in a womau, are unmanly and weak in a man ; mimanM, 
to that which is weak in woman, or weakly like women in 
2178 
men : as, womanish tears ; u'oinanly. to that which is nobly 
becoming in a woman; ladylike, to that which is refined 
and well-bred in woman. See masculine. 
The circle rounded under female hands. 
Tennyson, Princess, ii. 
The change from the heroic to the saintly ideal, from the 
ideal of Paganism to the ideal of Christianity, was a change 
from a type which was essentially male to one which was 
essentially feminine. Lecky, Europ. Morals, II. 383. 
A woman impudent and mannish grown 
Is not more loath'd than an effeminate man. 
Shalt., T. andC., iii. 3. 
In what a shadow, or deep pit of darkness, 
Doth womanish and fearful Mankind live ! 
Webster, Duchess of Malfl, v. 5. 
So wvmanly, so benigne, and so meke. 
Chaucer, Good Women, 1. 243. 
II. . A female; the female sex. [Obsolete 
or humorous.] 
They guide the femininen [female elephants) towards 
the pallace. Hakluyt's Voyages, II. i. 236. 
Shall I become or dares your master think I will be- 
comeor if I would become, presumes your master to 
hope I would become one of his common femininest 
Marston, The Fawn, iv. 1. 
And not fill the world at once 
With men, as angels, without feminine. 
Milton, P. L., x. 893. 
femininely (fem'i-nin-li), adv. In a feminine 
manner; as or like a woman. 
Femininely fair and dissolutely pale, 
Her suitor . . . enter'd. Tennyson, Geraint. 
feminineness (fem'i-nin-nes), n. The quality 
of being feminine ; femininity. 
She had been herself touched with a diviner feminine- 
ness, her own sister self, a thought more angelic. 
T. Winthrop, Cecil Dreeme, xvii. 
femininity (fem-i-nin'i-ti), . [< ME. femi- 
ninitee (also contr. feminite : see feminity) = F. 
femininite = Pg. femininidad, < L. femininus, 
feminine: see feminine and -4ty.~] 1. The char- 
acter or state of being feminine ; female na- 
ture ; womanliness. [Rare.] 
O sowdanese,' . . . 
O serpent under femininitee [var. feminite]. 
Chavcer, Man of Law's Tale, 1. 262. 
Margaret made excuses all so reasonable that Catherine 
rejected them with calm contempt; to her mind they 
lacked femininity. C. Keade, Cloister and Hearth, Ixxvi. 
femur 
The qwene otfemyne that freike so faithfully louyt, 
Nh.re he sat in hir soule than hir-selfe ay. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 6669. 
femme, . See feme. 
femme-de-chambre (fam'de-shon'br), n. [F. 
femme tie cliiintbre : see feme corert, under feme, 
&nd chamber.] A chambermaid ; a lady's-maid. 
femora, . Latin plural at femur. 
femoral (f em'o-ral), a. [= F. femoral = Sp. Pg. 
femoral = It.' fe'morale, < ML. femoralis, < L. 
femur, thigh: see femur.'] 1 . Of or pertaining 
to the thigh. 
Flibbertigibbet, who lay perdue behind him, thrust apin 
into the rear of the short femoral garment which we else- 
where described. Scott, Kenilworth, ax. 
2. Pertaining to the femur or thigh-bone : as, 
the femoral condyles. 3. In entom., pertain- 
ing to or on the third joint of au insect's leg: 
as, & femoral spine Femoral artery, the main ar- 
tery of the hind limb, from the end of the external iliac 
artery to the beginning of the popliteal, or from the crural 
arch to the canal through the adductor magmis muscle. 
In man this artery lies in a triangular space, called Scar- 
pa's triangle, bounded above by the crural arch, externally 
by the sartorius, and internally by the adductor longus, 
and having the femoral vein on the inner and the anterior 
crural nerves on the outer side. Its principal branch is 
the prof unda femoris, also called the deep femoral artery. 
Femoral canal, (a) The crural canal. (6) Hunter's 
canal. See co)uiil. Femoral falcon. See falcon. 
Femoral hernia. See hernia. Femoralpores. Same 
as crural pores (which see, under cru ral). Femoral ring, 
the inner or abdominal opening of the femoral sheath, be- 
neath the crural arch. Femoral sheath, the general 
fascial investment of the principal femoral vessels. Fem- 
oral vein, the principal vein of the thigh, the continua- 
tion of the popliteal vein, receiving the internal saphe- 
nous vein and ending at the crural arch in the external 
iliac vein. 
femorocaudal (fern'o-ro-ka'dal), a. [< L. fe- 
mur (femor-), thigh, -r- cauda, tail, + -al.] Per- 
taining to the thigh and to the tail : applied to 
certain muscles attached to the femur and to 
caudal vertebrae. Alsofemorococcygeal. 
femorocele (fem'o-ro-sel), . [< L. femur (fe- 
mor-), thigh, + (Jr. "my/I)?, tumor.] In pathol., 
femoral hernia. See hernia. 
femorococcygeal (fem'o-ro-kok-sij'e-al), a. 
[< femorococeygeuy + -al.] Same as femoro- 
caudal. 
2. Womanhood ; women collectively. 
The scenes and experiences described are new and fas- 
cinating and refreshing, as much so as pure soul after 
femorococcygeus (fem"o-r6-kok-sij'e-us), . ; 
pi. femorococcygei (-i). [NL., < L. femur (fc- 
mor-) + NL. coccygeus, q. v.] A muscle con- 
long travail with dirty humanity; as . . .'after boarding necting the femur with the caudal vertebrae of 
and Broad way femininity. S. Bowles, in Men-Jam, I. 33. some animals. 
femorotibial (fenr'o-ro-tib'i-al), a. [< L. femur 
(femor-), thigh, + 'tibia, tibia, + -al.] In e><- 
tom., situated between or common to the femur 
and tibia of an insect's leg: as, the femorotibial 
articulation. 
femur (fe'mer), n. ; pi. femurs or femora (fe'- 
merz, fem'o-ra). [L., rare nom. femus and/c- 
men (stem femor- and femin-), the thigh.] 1. 
The thigh. 2. In anat., the thigh-bone; the 
single long bone which extends along the thigh 
from the hip- joint to the knee-joint, articulat- 
ing above with the pelvis, and below with the 
tibia, or the tibia and fibula. The human femur is 
the longest and largest bone in the body, having a nearly 
straight subcylindric shaft with a rough ridge, the linea 
feminism.! (fem'i-nizm), . [< L. femina, wo- 
man, + -ism.] The qualities of females. 
feminityt (fe-min'i-ti), n. [< ME. feminite, 
femynyte, < OF. feminite, femminite; contr. of 
femininitee: see femininity.] 1. The qualities 
becoming a woman ; womanliness. 
Hither great Venus brought this infant fayre, 
The yonger daughter of Chrysogonee, 
And unto Psyche with great trust and care 
Committed her, yfostered to bee 
And trained up in trew feminitee. 
Spenser, F. Q., III. vi. 51. 
2. Effeminacy. 
Symptoms of feminiti/ in the Church of Rome. 
Dr. H. More, Epistles to the Seven Churches, vi. 
feminization (fem"i-ni-za'shon), . [< femi- 
nize + -ation.~] A rendering or becoming femi- 
nine. [Rare.] 
"To save it [the male sex] from what?" she asked. "From 
the most damnable feminization .' " 
H. Janus, Jr., The Century, XXXI. 87. 
feminize (fem'i-niz), v. t. ; pret. and pp. femi- 
nized, ppr. feminizing. [< L. femina, woman, + 
-ize.] To make feminine or womanish. [Rare.] 
The serpent said to the feminized Adam, why are you 
so demure? 
Dr. H. More, Conjecture Cabbalistica (1663), p. 45. 
feminonnclear (fem"i-u6-nu'kle-ar), a. Per- 
taining to a feminonucleus. [Rare.] 
feminonucleus (fem"i-n6-nu'kle-us), .; pi. 
feminonuclei (-1). [NL., < L. femina, female, 
+ nucleus, nucleus.] In embryol., the female 
nucleus ; the female as distinguished from the 
male product of an original undifferentiated 
generative nucleus when this has become bi- 
sexed. [Rare.] 
We propose ... to call the original undifferentiated 
generative body the nucleus, and its products respective- 
ly the male or masculonucleus, and the female or femi- 
nonucleus, reserving the name of spermatozoa and polar 
globules for the products of the division of the masculo- 
nucleus. Hyatt, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., XXIII. 54. 
feminyet, [ME., also/emenj/e, < OF.feminie, 
femenie, femmenie, < feme, woman : see female.] 
Women collectively ; especially, the Amazons. 
He conquerede al the regne of Femenye, 
That whilom was icleped Cithea. 
Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1. 8. 
t'.C 
Fig. i. Pis- * 
Fig. i. Anterior View of Human Right Femur, ec, external condyle; 
etu, external tul>erosity ; t'c, internal condyle; ittt, internal tuberosi- 
ty; Itr, lesser trochanter; ftr, great trochanter ; A, head; H, neck. 
Fig. t. Posterior View of Left Femur of a Horse, h, head ; gtr, great 
trochanter; ttr, third trochanter; Itr, lesser trochanter; f, pit for 
round ligament; it/, lotertrochanteric fossa; ft, a depression or 
fossa; etu, ittt, external and internal tiiberosities; cc, the two con- 
dyles. 
