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Origin and history of femme

femme(n.)

French, literally "woman," from Old French feme, from Latin femina "woman, a female," literally "she who suckles," from PIE root *dhe(i)- "to suck." Slang for "young woman" from 1928; meaning "passive and more feminine partner in a lesbian couple" attested by 1961.

Entries linking to femme

*dhe(i)-

*dhē(i)-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to suck."

It might form all or part of: affiliate; affiliation; effeminate; effete; epithelium; fawn (n.) "young deer;" fecund; fellatio; Felicia; felicitate; felicity; Felix; female; feminine; femme; fennel; fenugreek; fetal; feticide; fetus; filial; filiation; filicide; filioque; fitz; infelicity.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit dhayati "sucks," dhayah "nourishing;" Greek thēlē "mother's breast, nipple," thēlys "female, fruitful;" Latin felare "to suck," femina "woman" ("she who suckles"), felix "happy, auspicious, fruitful," fetus "offspring, pregnancy;" fecundus "fruitful, fertile, productive; rich, abundant;" Old Church Slavonic dojiti "to suckle," dojilica "nurse," deti "child;" Lithuanian dėlė "leech;" Old Prussian dadan "milk;" Gothic daddjan "to suckle;" Old Swedish dia "suckle;" Old High German tila "female breast;" Old Irish denaim "I suck," dinu "lamb."

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