Woman sb.

Pl. women. Forms (case-inflexions in OE. and early ME. as in MAN sb.¹): Sing. α. 1–5 wifman, 2–3 -mon, 2–4 wimman, (3 wim(m)on, wyman), 3–4 wymman, 3–5 wymmon (4 wyfman). β. 3 wummon, 3–5 wumman. γ. 3–5 womman, wommon, 4–6 voman, 5 vomman, woman(n)e, 5–6 wommane, 7 whoman, (also 9 dial.) wooman, 3– woman. δ. 5 oman, 6 owman (?), 7 Anglo-Welsh o’man, 7–9 uman, 9 ’ooman, umman. Pl. α. 1–4 wifmen, 1–4, 8 wimmen, 3–5 wymmen, (4 wyfmen, wimen, wemmen, 4–5 wymen, 5 vymmen, 7 Anglo-Welsh ymen). β. 3–4 wummen. γ. 3–5 wommen, 5 womene, vommen, woymen, 6–7 woemen, 4– women. δ. 4 Sc. vemene, 4–7 wemen, 5 wemyn, whemen, weymen, 5–7 weomen, 6 vemen, 6–7 weemen, 7 weamen, [OE. wífmon(n, -man(n masc., later fem., pl. wífmen(n, f. wíf woman, WIFE sb. + mon(n, man(n human being, MAN sb.¹ A formation peculiar to English, and not extant in the earliest period of OE., the ancient word being WIFE.

  The regular ME. descendants of OE. wífman, -men, viz. wimman, wimmen (cf. OE. léofman, ME. lemman, LEMAN) continued in use until the 15th century. By c. 1200 the rounding of wi- to wu- is clearly established, and is at that time characteristic of western ME. texts. The form womman appears in the late 13th century (first in western texts), and the corresponding, pl. wommen in the late 14th. The simplification of mm in womman, -en and wimman, -en, and the consequent conversion of the first syllable into an open syllable gave rise to forms with ō and ē, which, continuing to the early modern period, provided the occasion for punning analyses of wōman and wēmen (see 1 k below). From c. 1400 woman and women became regular spellings for sing. and pl., and have been retained as a properly corresponding pair to man and men; but in the standard speech the pronunciation (wu-) was ultimately appropriated to the sing. and (wi-) to the pl., probably through the associative influence of pairs like foot and feet.

  From at least the 16th century, the only variety in the pronunciation of the pl. has been in respect of the quantity of the first vowel, which was either short or long in the 16th and 17th centuries; but in the same period no less than five pronunciations of the sing. are recognized by orthoepists.

  Examples of the δ-forms of the sing., without initial w, follow here; for illustration of the more normal forms see sense 1.

1455[?].  Paston Lett., I. 343. Youre pore bede oman and cosyn, Alice Crane.

1558.  Charnock, Bk. Astron. Title of Chapter (MS.). Is the theffe man or owman or bothe?

1623.  Shaks., Merry W., IV. i. 52. Eua. Leaue your prables (o’man) … Eua. O’man, forbeare.

1632.  Nabbes, Cov. Gard., V. ii. Your Ladiships uman.

1749.  Fielding, Tom Jones, XV. x. When her Laship was so veri kind as to offar to mak mee hur one Uman.

1808.  Jamieson, Uman, the pron. of woman.

1837.  Dickens, Pickw., xiii. Putting on his spectacles to look at a married ’ooman!

1838.  Jas. Grant, Sk. Lond., 69. Bad luck to the ’ooman!

1898.  G. W. E. Russell, Coll. & Recoll., 14. Like other high-bred people of his time, he [sc. Lord John Russell] … called a woman an ‘’ooman.’]

  I.  1. An adult female human being. (The context may or may not have special reference to sex or to adult age: cf. MAN sb.¹ 4 a, c, d.)

  † Man or (or and) woman used appositionally = male or (and) female.

  sing.  α.  c. 893.  K. Ælfred, Oros., III. vi. § 2. Minutia hatte an wifmon, þe on heora wisan sceolde nunne beon.

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Gen. ii. 22. God … ʓeworhte ðæt rib, ðe he ʓenam of Adame, to anum wifmen. Ibid., Judges iv. 22. Ða clipode seo wimman cuðlice him to.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 15. Ȝif þa laȝe weren nu, nalde na mon mis-don wið oðre, ne wepmon ne wifmon ne meiden.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 133. Þe lif holi wimman sarra.

a. 1250.  Owl & Night., 1357. If wymmon þencheþ luuye derne.

c. 1290.  S. Eng. Leg., 486/53. Com ageyn & bring this swyn a-now To this pore wifman.

c. 1300.  Havelok, 1156. Þe fayrest wymman under mone.

13[?].  K. Horn, 552 (Harl. MS.). Er ne he eny wyf take Oþer wyþ wymmon forewart make.

1340.  Ayenb., 31. He … zayþ to þe manne and to þe wyfmanne [etc.].

  β.  a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 12. Hwarse wummon liueð oðer mon bi him one. Ibid., 58. Þis is a swuðe dredlich word to wummen þet scheaweð hire to wepmones eien.

a. 1240.  Ureisun, in O. E. Hom., I. 191. Nis no wummon iboren þet ðe beo iliche.

13[?].  Coer de L., 3863. Man, wumman, every Sarasyn.

1499.  Promp. Parv., 534/2 (ed. Pynson). Wumman.

  γ.  c. 1275.  Lay., 2237. Womman [c. 1205 wifmon] þou hart hende.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 211. Al vor a woman Þat heleine was icluped þis bataile verst bigan.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 9000. Foluand a wicked womman will. Ibid., 20285. Quils scho spac þus, þat suet woman,… saint iohan … com.

1362.  Langl., P. Pl., A. VIII. 74. Þei weddeþ no wommon þat þei with deleþ.

14[?].  in Rel. Ant., I. 275. To onpreyse womene yt were a shame, For a womane was thy dame.

1476.  Stonor Papers (Camden), II. 7. And yff ye wold be a good etter off your mete allwaye, that ye myght waxe and grow ffast to be a woman.

1546.  in J. Bulloch, Pynours (1887), 63. Euery pynour baytht man and voman.

1588.  Shaks., L. L. L., IV. i. 125. One … that was a woman when Queene Guinouer of Brittaine was a little wench. Ibid. (1591), Two Gent., IV. iv. 165. Our youth got me to play the womans part, And I was trim’d in Madam Iulias gowne.

1667.  Dryden & Dk. Newcastle, Sir M. Mar-all, III. (1668), 26. A Woman’s in a sad condition, that has nothing to trust to, but a Perriwig above, and a well-trim’d shoe below.

1697.  Congreve, Mourn. Bride, III. ad fin. Heav’n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn’d, Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn’d.

1735.  Pope, Ep. Lady, 216. Men, some to Bus’ness, some to Pleasure take; But every Woman is at heart a Rake.

1780.  J. Brown, Toleration (1803), 81. No ecclesiastical power can reside in a heathen, a woman, or a child.

1804.  Wordsw., ‘She was a Phantom,’ 27. A perfect Woman, nobly planned, To warn, to comfort, and command.

1818.  Byron, Juan, I. lxi. Her stature tall—I hate a dumpy woman.

1835.  Hook, G. Gurney, vii. in New Mo. Mag., XLIV. 18. A girl of seventeen is a woman, when a man of seventeen is a boy.

1867.  Act 30 & 31 Vict., c. 130 § 3. In this Act … ‘Woman’ shall mean a Female of the Age of Eighteen Years or upwards.

1887.  Act 50 & 51 Vict., c. 53 § 75. In this Act … ‘Woman’ means a female of the age of sixteen years or upwards.

1889.  ‘J. S. Winter,’ Mrs. Bob, v. A girl she was not, but a woman of at least nine and twenty.

  pl.  α.  c. 900.  trans. Bæda’s Hist., III. v. (1890), 162. Ʒe wæpnedmen ʓe wimmen.

c. 1000.  Christ’s Descent, 48. Wifmonna þreat, fela fæmnena.

1154.  O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1137. Þa namen hi … carl-men and wimmen & diden heom in prisun.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 215. Ȝif þe hodede wliteð mid stefne for to liken wimmannen.

c. 1290.  John, 196, in S. Eng. Leg., 408. Twelf þousend Men … With-oute children and wimmen.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 2753. Ofte in wimmen [v.rr. wimmane, wommannes, wommanys, wommens] fourme hii comeþ to men al so.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 7044. Zamazims … Þe wimmen land wit-outen man.

a. 1300.  K. Horn, 67. Of alle wymmane [v.r. wimmenne] Wurst was godhild þanne.

13[?].  Cursor M., 24644 (Edin.). Wit oþir wimen þat him soht.

1340.  Ayenb., 10. To habbe uelaȝrede ulesslich mid wyfmen.

c. 1375.  Cursor M., 8583, heading. How ij. wemmen ware iugged for a childe þe tane slogh in hir bedde.

1470–85.  Malory, Arthur, II. vii. 83. For her sake I shal owe al wymmen the better loue.

c. 1500.  God Speed the Plough, 87. Wymen commeth weping on the same Maner.

c. 1620.  Welsh Embass., IV. 1509 (Malone Soc.). Our valliant Comragues … so fright the ymen that [etc.].

1790.  Mrs. Wheeler, Westmld. Dial., 60. What is cum amang Wimmen an Lasses E this Parish?

  β.  c. 1205.  Lay., 11718. Æc heo nomen wummen wunder ane monie.

a. 1240.  Ureisun, in O. E. Hom., I. 191. Þu ert briht and blisful ouer alle wummen.

13[?].  Cursor M., 23451 (Gött.). Man [has] gret liking … On wummen fair for to bihald.

  γ.  1340–70.  Alex. & Dind., 1016. Ȝoure fingrus of fin gold ȝe fullen wiþ ryngus, As is wommenus wone for wordliche glose.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Melib., ¶ 91. Of alle wommen good womman foond I neuere.

1390.  Gower, Conf., I. 58. Of body bothe and of visage Lik unto wommen of yong age.

c. 1400.  Maundev. (1839), xiii. 143. Amazoyne, that is the Lond of Femynye, where that no man is, but only alle Wommen.

c. 1430.  Lydg., Min. Poems (Percy Soc.), 46. Here gynneth a dyté of womenhis hornys.

c. 1449.  Pecock, Repr., I. xx. 119. Bi wering of wommennys couercheefis.

c. 1450.  Mirk’s Festial, 22. All good men and woymen.

c. 1450.  Cursor M., 10528 (Laud). Ouyr alle women to bere croun.

1553.  Respublica, 1454. Men shoulde kysse woomen.

1573.  L. Lloyd, Pilgr. Princes (1586), 55 b. The fiftie virgins … certaine … baites being set of purpose by the gentlemen of Messena for their virginities, and now readie … being then maides, to bee made women that night.

1596.  Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot., V. (S.T.S.), I. 290. Woemen quha had vowet chastitie.

1611.  Coryat, Crudities, 247 (Venice). I saw women acte, a thing that I neuer saw before.

1753–4.  Richardson, Grandison, II. viii. 51. Girls are said to be sooner women than boys are men.

1818.  Shelley, Julian, 592. Like one of Shakespeare’s women.

1874.  Hardy, Far fr. Mad. Crowd, xxv. They were already loading hay, the women raking it into cocks and windrows.

1904.  Max Pemberton, Red Morn, viii. ‘The women first, and one by one,’ he roared at the ladder’s head. ‘If any man goes out of his turn, I will shoot him like a dog.’

  δ.  1375.  Barbour, Bruce, III. 734. Men mycht her wemen hely cry.

c. 1375.  Sc. Leg. Saints, x. (Mathou), 347. Mariage … To cople men & vemene.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 8056. Hit is a propertie apreuit … To all wemen in the world … To be vnstable. Ibid., 10904. The wemyn … welt hom to ground with swappis of hor swordes.

1456.  Cov. Leet Bk., 288. Most excellent princes of weymen mortall.

1503–4.  Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1904), 252. For the makkyng of the ney vemens pevys.

1512.  Wriothesley, Chron. (Camden), I. 8. Servantes, prentises, weomen, and all other to pay 4d. a peece.

1553.  Respublica, 1462. Thei bee weemen and perchaunce maye bee faced owte.

1617.  Moryson, Itin., I. 168. The French Liberty of the Weomen makes the Italians judge them without shame.

1641.  (title) The Petition of the Weamen of Middlesex.

a. 1699.  Lady A. Halkett, Autobiog. (Camden), 22. I dresed him in the wemen’s habitt that was prepared, w^ch fitted his Highnese very well.

  b.  Generically without article: The female human being; the female part of the human race, the female sex. Hence gen. woman’s = womanly, female, feminine.

c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. xix. 4. Masculum et feminam fecit eos, woepen-monn & wifmonn ʓeworhte hia.

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Deut. xxii. 5. Ne scryde nan wif hi mid wæpmannes reafe, ne wæpman mid wifmannes reafe.

a. 1250.  Prov. Ælfred, 281, in O. E. Misc., 118. Wymmon is word-woþ and haueþ tunge to swift.

c. 1290.  S. Eng. Leg., 29. Þe beste bern … Þat euere of womman was i-bore.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Melib., ¶ 142. What is better than wisedoom? womman. And what is bettre than a good womman? no thyng.

1526.  Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 271 b. For in man as man is no assurance, & moche lesse in woman.

1697.  Dryden, Æneis, IV. 820. Woman’s a various and a changeful Thing!

1753–4.  Richardson, Grandison, III. xvii. 133. Woman is the glory of all created existence:—But you, madam, are more than woman!

1766.  Goldsm., Vicar W., xxiv. Song, When lovely woman stoops to folly.

1808.  Scott, Marm., VI. xxx. 1. O Woman! in our hours of ease, Uncertain, coy, and hard to please. Ibid. (1823), Quentin D., xiv. Get thee gone with thy woman’s ware!

1849.  Froude, Nem. Faith, 224. All that woman’s care or woman’s affection could do to soften off her end was done.

1853.  Dickens, Bleak Ho., xiv. ‘But Wooman, lovely Wooman,’ said Mr. Turveydrop,… ‘what a sex you are!’

1855.  Kingsley, in Life (1877), I. 453. Woman’s heart is alike in all ranks.

1894.  ‘Max O’Rell,’ John Bull & Co., 284. Of all the domestic animals invented for the service of man in South Africa, the most useful is woman.

  c.  pl. in pregnant use with reference to (irregalar) intercourse with women.

c. 1200.  Vices & Virtues, 127. He … seið þat for ates ne for drinches ne for wifmanne … ne scal man naure ben forloren.

1420–2, a. 1532, 1621, 1727, 1819.  [see WINE sb.¹ 1 f (b)].

1535.  Coverdale, 1 Sam. xxi. 4. Yf the yonge men haue onely refrained them selues from wemen.

1577.  Frampton, Joyful News, 15. Aboue all thynges let hym keepe hym self from Women.

  d.  As a mode of address. (Cf. MAN sb.¹ 4 e.) Now (except dial. and in renderings of foreign modes of speech) used chiefly derogatorily or jocularly.

c. 1230.  Hali Meid. (1922), 42. Wummon, ȝef þu hauest were after þi wil.

a. 1240.  Ureisun, in O. E. Hom., I. 189. Helpe me … marie, moder and maiden, deorwurþ wimmon.

c. 1250.  Kent. Serm., in O. E. Misc., 29. Ure louerd … sede to hire, Wat be-longeth hit to me oþer to þe, wyman?

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 16651. Wimmen, wimmen, dos a-wai! wepe yee noght for me.

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. III. 105. Vnwittily, womman! wrouȝt hastow oft.

1382.  Wyclif, Matt. xv. 28. O thou womman, thi feith is grete.

c. 1440.  York Myst., ix. 93. O! woman, arte þou woode?

1607.  Shaks., Cor., IV. i. 12. Virg. Oh heauens! O heauens! Corio. Nay, I prythee woman.

1667.  Milton, P. L., IX. 343. O Woman, best are all things as the will Of God ordaind them.

1726.  R. West, Hecuba, IV. 24. Oh Woman! thy Calamities are great.

1842.  Lover, Handy Andy, ix. Arrah, woman, don’t be talkin’ your balderdash to me.

1860.  Sala, Baddington Peerage, I. iii. 63. ‘Will you hold your tongue, woman?’ her husband … cried out … ‘Woman! hold my tongue! This language to me!’

1901.  S. MacNaughtan, Fortune of Christina M‘Nab, i. ‘Woman, you are just perfect,’ responded Colin, ‘but you have not got the English tone.’

  e.  With allusion to qualities generally attributed to the female sex, as mutability, capriciousness, proneness to tears; also to their position of inferiority or subjection (phr. to make a woman of, to bring into submission).

c. 1400.  Beryn, 872. She had done a vommans dede.

c. 1400.  Anturs Arth., 107. Hit waried, hit wayment as a womane.

c. 1515.  Interl. Four Elem. (Percy Soc.), 23. Then know I a lyghter mete than that…. It is evyn a womans tounge, For that is ever sterynge!

a. 1548.  Hall, Chron., Hen. VIII., 185 b. This peace was called the womennes peace, for because that notwithstandyng this conclusion, yet neither the Emperoure trusted the Frenche kyng, nor he neither trusted nor loued hym.

1591.  Shaks., Two Gent., I. ii. 23. Iul. Your reason? Lu. I haue no other but a womans reason: I thinke him so, because I thinke him so.

1593.  Passionate Morrice (1876), 79. At last, with a resolution, she played the woman, falling into so kinde a vaine of scoulding, as she had charged him with a thousand discourtesies.

1595.  Shaks., John, V. vi. 22. Ibid. (1596), Tam. Shr., IV. v. 36. Ibid. (1596), 1 Hen. IV., II. iii. 112. Ibid. (1602), Ham., I. ii. 146. Frailty, thy name is woman.

1605.  1st Pt. Jeronimo, I. ii. 62. Be woman in all partes, saue in thy eies.

1612.  Field (title), A Woman is a Weather-cocke.

1677.  W. Hughes, Man of Sin, II. viii. 125. O what great Bargains are these! and cheap enough in any Womans Conscience!

1742.  Col. Rec. Pennsylv., IV. 579. We conquer’d You, we made Women of you.

1836.  W. Irving, Astoria, xxi. II. 40. I have seen your husband carrying wood into his lodge to make the fire. Where was his squaw, that he should be obliged to make a woman of himself?

1850.  Smedley, Frank Fairlegh, xxvii. 226. Don’t make such a fuss; you’re as bad as a woman.

1851.  Kingsley, Three Fishers, 5. For men must work, and women must weep.

  f.  (Now always with the.) The essential qualities of a woman; womanly characteristics; that which makes a woman what she is; womanliness; occas. the feminine side or aspect; † predicatively feminine, womanish.

1611.  Beaum. & Fl., King & No K., IV. iv. But that my eyes Have more of woman in ’em than my heart, I would not weep.

1637.  N. Whiting, Albino & Bellama, 18. Not in a fit of woman cry and whine.

1661.  Evelyn, Tyrannus, 25. It is not possible to say which is the more Woman of the two Coated Sardanapalus’s.

1676.  Dryden, Aurengz., V. 80. All the Woman work’d within your mind.

1771.  Mackenzie, Man Feel., xxi. (1803), 28. Take away that girl,… she has woman about her, already.

1821.  Scott, Kenilw., xiv. It might be … said, that the Earl of Sussex had been most serviceable to the Queen, while Leicester was most dear to the woman.

1834.  Sir H. Taylor, Artevelde, I. II. iii. Teach her to subdue The woman in her nature.

1844.  [Miss Pardoe], in Fraser’s Mag., XXX. 532/2. Liddy was really taking the woman upon her in earnest.

1885.  ‘Mrs. Alexander,’ At Bay, vii. She knew that all the woman in her somewhat masculine nature had gone out, in maternal affection to her husband’s nephew.

1894.  ‘G. Egerton,’ Keynotes, 188. To get at the woman under that infernal corset.

  † g.  One’s own woman: mistress of oneself, independent. (After MAN sb.¹ 4 l.) Obs.

1605.  Marston, Dutch Courtezan, III. i. I assure you ile nere marry…. Marry God forfend … ile liue my owne woman.

  h.  In contrast, explicit or implicit, with ‘lady’ (see LADY sb. 4).

1788.  Wesley, Wks. (1872), VII. 34. Hunting, shooting, fishing, wherein not many women (I should say ladies) are concerned.

1837.  Dickens, Pickw., xxxii. ‘You are such an unreasonable woman,’ remonstrated Mr. Benjamin Allen. ‘I beg your parding, young man,’ said Mrs. Raddle,… ‘but who do you call a woman?’

1847.  Athenæum, 30 Oct., 1128/1. Defendant pleaded … that the person described as a woman was in fact a lady.

1855.  Mrs. Gaskell, North & S., xxxix. So that was the lady you spoke of as a woman?… You might have told me who she was.

  i.  With qualification denoting status, occupation, or character, woman enters into many compounds or collocations more or less permanent, corresponding to those of man (MAN sb.¹ 4 p) but much less numerous: see the various qualifying words and BONDWOMAN, CHARWOMAN, COUNTRYWOMAN, GENTLEWOMAN, HORSEWOMAN, MAN-WOMAN, NEEDLEWOMAN, OLD WOMAN, TIRE-WOMAN, TOWNSWOMAN, WISE WOMAN, YOUNG WOMAN, etc.

  † Woman bond, nonce-inversion of BONDWOMAN. First woman = PRIMA DONNA. Little woman: a female child, girl (cf. little man, MAN sb. 4 f); also, an affectionate or playful form of address to a girl or young woman, esp. one in whom womanly qualities are conspicuous. New woman: a woman of ‘advanced’ views, advocating the independence of her sex and defying convention; hence new-womandom, new-womanish adj.

1675.  Hobbes, Odyssey, IV. 12. The second wedding was his son’s, Whom on a woman bond he had begot.

1827.  Earl Mount-Edgcumbe, Mus. Remin. (ed. 2), 47. At one of the smaller theatres, however, the part of first woman in an intermezzo … was filled by a very promising singer,… who became in time one of the best first men.

1868.  Louisa M. Alcott (title), Little Women; or, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy.

1880.  [see PRIMA DONNA].

1894.  Sarah Grand, in N. Amer. Rev., March, 271. Both the cow-woman and the scum-woman are well within range of the comprehension of the Bawling Brotherhood, but the new woman is a little above him.

1894.  ‘Ouida,’ Ibid., May, 616. The elegant epithet of Cow-woman implies the contempt with which maternity is viewed by the New Woman.

1894.  Granta, 8 Dec., 122. The Alexandra (Dublin) ladies … are models of new womandom.

1896.  J. K. Bangs, in Harper’s Mag., XCIII. 32/1. She is not at all of an unsentimental nature—only fractious—new-womanish, perhaps.

1897.  ‘Ouida,’ Massarenes, iv. They were pretty babies, dear little men and women.

  j.  In phraseological collocations corresp. to those s.v. MAN sb.¹ 18, as woman of all work, business, colo(u)r, fashion, hono(u)r, letters, livelihood, pleasure, property, sense, the town, the world: see also these sbs.

1484.  Test. Ebor. (Surtees), III. 257. Or ellis to marye hym till a woman of livelod to his degre.

1697.  De Foe, Ess. Projects, 303. A Woman of Sense and Breeding will scorn as much to encroach upon the Prerogative of the Man, as a Man of Sense will scorn to oppress the Weakness of the Woman.

1705.  Vanbrugh, Country-ho., II. You must behave yourself like a woman of honour, and keep your word.

1742.  Fielding, J. Andrews, I. vii. She resolved to preserve all the dignity of the woman of fashion to her servant.

1837.  Dickens, Pickw., xxxii. The young woman of all work. Ibid. (1838), O. Twist, xlviii. ‘Coming,’ … ‘Ah, and so’s the young ’ooman of property that’s going to take a fancy to me.’

1847.  L. Hunt, Men, Women, & B. (1876), 316. Our little woman of letters [sc. Lady Mary W. Montagu] read all the books she could lay her hands on.

1849.  Lyell, 2nd Visit U.S., II. 11. The … pleasant expression of countenance of a young woman of colour.

  † k.  In the 16th and 17th centuries freq. with play on a pseudo-etymological association with woe; also, less freq., between weemen (= women) and we men. Obs.

a. 1500[?].  Chester Plays, Creat., 259. Woman,… soothe said I in prophesie when thou wast taken of my body, mans woe thou woldest be witlie, therfore thou wast so named.

1534.  More, Comf. agst. Trib., To Rdr. Man himselfe borne of a woman, is in deede a wo man, that is, ful of wo and miserie.

1546.  J. Heywood, Prov., II. vii. A woman! As who saith, woe to the man!

1589.  Puttenham, Engl. Poesie, II. xviii. (Arb.), 147. Not money: nor many, Nor any: but any, Not weemen, but weemen beare the bell.

1601.  in Bullen, More Lyrics (1888), 143. Women, what are they?… We men, what are we?

1616.  R. C., Times’ Whistle, V. 1962. Woemen when they will Can weep.

1653.  Flecknoe, Misc., 70. Shep. Woe has end, when ’tis alone: But in woman never none. Nim. Say of Woman worst ye can, What prolongs their woe, but man?

  l.  Proverbs.

c. 1425.  Cast. Persev., 2650, in Macro Plays, 156. Þer wymmen arn, are many wordys.

c. 1440.  Alphabet of Tales, 396. Socrates … sayd þat womman, ay þe mor sho was bett, þe wars was sho.

1520.  Calisto & Melib., A iij b. Yt is an old sayeng That women be the dyuells netts and hed of syn.

1541.  Schole-h. Women, 690, in Hazl., E. P. P., IV. 131. Women and dogges cause much strife.

1545.  Taverner, Erasm. Prov., 31 b. Fyre, See, Woman, thre euyls.

1589.  Puttenham, Engl. Poesie, III. xix. (Arb.), 239. It … may be likened to the maner of women, who as the common saying is, will say nay and take it. Ibid., xxiv. 297. A woman will weepe for pitie to see a gosling goe barefoote.

1594.  Mirr. Policy (1599), X ij. Is it not an old Prouerbe. That Women and Shippes are neuer so perfect but still there is somewhat to bee amended.

1599.  Sandys, Europæ Spec. (1629), 194. Seeing as the Proverbe is, a dead woman will haue foure to cary her forth.

1639.  J. Clarke, Parœm., 117. A woman, asse, and walnut-tree, the more you beat the better be.

1659.  N. R., Proverbs, 110. Three Women make a Market. Ibid., 120. Women laugh when they can, weep when they will.

1670.  Ray, Prov., 50. A womans work is never at an end. Ibid., 54. England is the Paradise of women.

c. 1825.  Mrs. Cameron, The Cradle, 12. You know they say ‘A woman’s business is never done.’

  2.  A female servant, esp. a lady’s maid or personal attendant. Often pl. († also = WOMENFOLK).

a. 766.  Pœnit. Abp. Ecgbert, iv. in Thorpe, Laws (1840), II. 182. Ʒif hwylc wif … hire wifman swingð.

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Gen. xx. 18. God ʓewitnode ealle hys wimmen.

1340.  Ayenb., 67. Þis zenne is ine uele maneres ase ine sergons aye hire lhordinges, ine wyfmen aye hare leuedis.

c. 1450.  Merlin, v. 90. I … require that as soone as it is born that ye take it to oon of youre moste secrete woman.

1565.  Cal. Scott. Papers (1900), II. 142. To play a partie at a playe theie call the biles, my mestres Beton and I agaynste the Quene and my lord Darlye—the women to have the gayne of the wynninges.

1613.  Shaks., Hen. VIII., I. iv. 93. Sir Thomas Bullens Daughter,… One of her Highnesse women.

1663.  Dryden, Rival Ladies, I. ii. A Note put privately into my hand By Angellina’s Woman.

1749.  Fielding, Tom Jones, VII. viii. In Town I visit none but the Women of Women of Quality.

1809.  Malkin, Gil Blas, X. ix. (Rtldg.), 360. Another coach and four, with Seraphina’s women.

1893.  ‘L. Keith,’ ’Lisbeth, iii. I wonder ye dare put such an affront on me before the women!

1898.  Hichens, Londoners, x. From Mrs. Crouch, ma’am, her Grace’s woman.

  3.  † a. A lady-love, mistress. Obs. b. A kept mistress, paramour.

13[?].  K. Alis., 7567. They toke and slowe Hirkan And yolde Kindeleke his woman.

1561.  T. Hoby, trans. Castiglione’s Courtyer, III. (1577). Q vj. A feruent Dialogue full of the affection of a louer with his womanne.

1639.  J. S., Clidamas, 25. Agree to bee my woman, and I (more then willingly) will consent to bee thy man.

1666.  Pepys, Diary, 13 Oct. The Duke of York … leaves off care of business, what with his woman, my Lady Denham, and his hunting three times a week.

1719.  De Foe, Crusoe, II. (Globe), 384. If any of you take any of these Women, as a Woman or Wife,… he shall take but one.

1924.  Galsworthy, White Monkey, II. vii. They tell me Elderson keeps two women.

  4.  A wife. Now only dial. and U.S.

  Cf. OLD WOMAN 1 b and the corresp. use of man (MAN sb.¹ 8).

c. 1450.  St. Cuthbert (Surtees), 7041. A night be his woman [cum uxore] he lay.

1598.  Shaks., Merry W., II. ii. 305. See the hell of hauing a false woman: my bed shall be abus’d.

a. 1625.  Fletcher, Nice Valour, II. i. A man can in his lifetime make but one woman, But he can make his fifty Queanes a month.

1693.  Dryden, Juvenal, VI. 295. Prepare thy Neck and put it in the Yoke: But for no mercy from thy Woman look.

1765.  in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.), I. 416. My poor little woman has been in the drooping mood for two or three days.

1841.  Thackeray, Gt. Hoggarty Diam., x. Gates and his woman thought that they should come for’ard … to help the kindest master and missus ever was.

1866.  Carlyle, Remin. (1881), II. 193. I persisted in them to the last, as did my woman.

1897.  Kipling, Captains Courageous, vii. 147. He married my woman’s aunt.

  † b.  The female mate of an animal. Obs. rare.

1577.  Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., III. 144 b. The hee Goate, by a certayne instinct of nature,… goeth alwayes before his woman.

  5.  The reverse of a coin; in reference to the figure of BRITANNIA (q.v.) upon it. (Cf. MAN sb.¹ 17.)

1785.  Grose, Dict. Vulgar T., s.v. Harp, Harp … is also the Irish expression for woman, or tail, used in tossing up in Ireland.

1835.  Marryat, Olla Podr., Ill-Will, III. Thos. Here goes—heads or tails? John. Woman for ever.

1888.  ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Robbery under Arms, xi. I pulled out a shilling. ‘If it’s head we go, Jim; if it’s woman, we stay here.’

  II.  attrib. and Comb.

  6.  a. Simple attrib. = ‘of or characteristic of a woman or women, feminine, womanly.’

1542.  Udall, Erasm. Apoph., 29. The woman sexe is no lesse apte to learne al maner thynges then menne are.

1621.  Lady M. Wroth, Urania, 104. Woman modestie kept her silent.

1622.  Fletcher, Prophetess, III. iii. You’ll find it but a woman-fit to try ye.

1631.  Heywood, 1st Pt. Fair Maid of West, III. i. 31. In this woman shape Ile cudgell thee.

1726.  Pope, Odyss., XIX. 82. Into the woman-state asquint to pry.

1810.  Scott, Lady of L., V. xxvi. The only man, in whom a foe My woman-mercy would not know.

1845.  Clough, Poems, ὁ θεος μετά σοῦ, 7. I shall see thy soft brown eyes dilate to wakening woman thought.

1846.  Mrs. Carlyle, in Jane Welsh Carlyle (1924), 278. What a contrast I often think betwixt that woman and Geraldine! the opposite poles of woman-nature!

1883.  Browning, Jochanan Hakkadosh, 310. The woman-nature—the soft sway Of undefinable omnipotence O’er our strong male-stuff.

1895.  Jean Porter Rudd, in Outing (U.S.), XXVI. 346/2. The next moment he had taken the fair woman face between his hands and kissed it.

1895.  Cath. Mag., Dec., 453. Her shrewd woman-wit.

1897.  ‘H. S. Merriman,’ In Kedar’s Tents, xxvi. heading, Womancraft.

  b.  appos. (a) = ‘female,’ esp. with designations of occupation or profession.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 29420. If þou wit þi woman frend Find clerk be doand dede vn-hende.

1382.  Wyclif, 1 Kings xvii. 9. A womman widowe.

c. 1400.  Three Kings Cologne (1886), 33. A womman-paynym þat was his moder.

14[?].  Lat.-Eng. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 600/47. Sacerdotissa patrina, a wommangossyb.

1530.  Palsgr., 289/2. Woman coke, cuisiniere.

1617.  Moryson, Itin., I. 258. The famous woman poet Sapho.

1632.  Brome, Court Beggar, V. ii. (1653), S 3 b. What Woman Monster’s this?

1659.  D. Pell, Improv. Sea, Ep. Ded. d j. Wee are so wise now, that wee have our woman Politicians.

1675.  T. Brooks, Gold. Key, Wks. 1867, V. 442. A woman-martyr who … offered herself to martyrdom.

1680.  Shadwell (title), The Woman-Captain.

1693.  Dryden, Juvenal, vi. Note 31. A Woman-Grammarian, who corrects her Husband for speaking false Latin. Ibid. (1697), Æneis, XI. 996 [1016]. A Woman Warrior was too strong for thee.

1706.  Prior, Ode to Queen, xxvi. The Woman Chief is Master of the War.

1717.  Pope, Iliad, IX. 756. One Woman-Slave was ravish’d from thy Arms.

1805.  Forsyth, Beauties Scot., II. 54. A woman-shearer, through the harvest, is reckoned equal to the rent of a cottage and yard.

1847.  Tennyson, Princess, IV. 540. The Princess with her monstrous woman-guard.

1859.  Geo. Eliot, Adam Bede, l. Lisbeth’s obstinate refusal to have any woman-helper in the house.

1877.  Black, Green Past., i. With scarcely a woman-friend in the world.

  † (b)  = ‘having the character of a woman, feminine, womanly; effeminate.’ Obs.

a. 1586.  Sidney, Arcadia, III. xxv. (1912), 497. Rather then onely shew her selfe a woman-lover in fruitles lamentations.

1635–56.  Cowley, Davideis, I. 319. I have been a pious fool, a Woman-King.

  (c)  With names of animals, forming designations of creatures having the qualities or properties of a woman and of the particular animal.

a. 1625.  Fletcher, Womans Prize, IV. iv. I … know her To be a Woman-wolfe by transmigration.

1673.  Lady’s Calling, I. iii. § 23. Nothing can be more unnatural, more odious, then a woman-tiger.

1889.  Rider Haggard, Allan’s Wife, xi. The brutes, acting under the direction of that woman-monkey.

1893.  Rodway, Hand-bk. Brit. Guiana, 67. How such an unwieldy creature [as the manatee] … could ever have been figured as a woman-fish can hardly be understood by anyone who has seen it.

  c.  objective, as woman-follower, -killer, † -queller, -scorner, -slayer, -spiter, -worship, -worshipper, -wronger; also woman-bearing, -churching, -degrading, -despising, -flogging, -murdering, † -quelling adjs.: similative and parasynthetic, as woman-faced, -fair, -headed, -hearted, -proud, -vested adjs.; instrumental, as woman-bred, -built, -conquered, -daunted, -governed, -made, -ridden, -tended adjs.

1848.  Thackeray, Van. Fair, xxxviii. The boy grew up delicate, sensitive, imperious, *woman-bred.

1847.  Tennyson, Princess, IV. 466. A new-world Babel, *woman-built.

a. 1693.  Urquhart’s Rabelais, III. xli. 336. An uprising or *Woman Churching Treatment.

1847.  Tennyson, Princess, III. 333. *Woman-conquer’d [stood] there The bearded Victor of ten-thousand hymns.

1598.  Rowlands, Betraying of Christ, etc. D iv. *Woman-daunted Peter.

1895.  G. Allen, Woman who did (1906), 84. Their own vile *woman-degrading and prostituting morality.

1610.  Healey, St. Aug. Citie of God, 686. Ausonius makes her [sc. the Sphinx] … *woman-faced.

1866.  Lytton, Lost Tales Miletus, 96. Beside him sate An image *woman-fair.

1794.  Southey, Coleridge’s Fall of Robespierre, III. 181. The *woman-govern’d Roland.

1902.  Alice Kemp-Welch, in 19th Cent., Dec., 989. The *woman-headed serpent becomes symbolical of Sophia, the spirit which came to tempt, not to evil, but to good.

1813.  H. G. Knight, Alashtar, VI. xiii. Well may the mild, the *woman-hearted fail.

1848.  Thackeray, Van. Fair, xxix. Having a firm conviction in his own mind that he was a *woman-killer and destined to conquer.

1597.  Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., II. i. 58. Thou art … a Man-queller, and a *woman-queller.

1611.  J. Davies, Sco. Folly (Grosart), 10/1. Bossus the woman-queller.

1852.  Thackeray, Esmond, II. iv. A weak priest-ridden, *woman-ridden man.

1591.  Harington, Orl. Fur., XXIX. xxxii. He had prou’d him selfe a *woman-slayre.

1847.  Mrs. Gore, Castles in Air, v. A perpetual sense of aggression had converted me, not into a woman-hater, but a *woman-spiter.

1857.  Ld. Dufferin, Lett. High Lat., vi. 36. The elegance and comfort of a *woman-tended home.

1847.  Tennyson, Princess, IV. 163. *Woman-vested as I was.

1848.  Kingsley, Saint’s Trag., Introd. p. xviii. The *woman-worship of chivalry.

1856.  Reade, Never too late, ix. Next Lady-day, as the *woman-worshipper calls it.

1596.  Spenser, F. Q., VI. vii. 7. Foule *womanwronger.

  7.  Special comb.: † woman-actor, (a) an actress; (b) an actor who takes women’s parts; woman-boat = women’s boat (10); woman-body dial., a person of the female sex, woman; woman-born a., born of woman; woman-dangler, one who dangles after women; † woman-errant, one who goes after women; woman-grown a., that has become a woman; † woman-house Sc., a laundry: see also women-house (9 c); † woman-keeper, a female nurse; † woman-louper Sc., a whoremonger; woman-mad a., mad after women; woman-man, an effeminate man, or one who in some way resembles a woman; woman-market, a place for the sale (lit. or fig.) of women; woman-movement, the movement for the emancipation of women, or the recognition and extension of women’s rights; woman-palaver African, illicit commerce with a woman or women; woman-physician, (a) a woman’s doctor; (b) a woman-doctor; woman-post, a female messenger or courier; woman-raving a. = woman-mad; † woman-reputation, reputation with women; † woman-shoemaker, a maker of women’s shoes; woman-slaughter, the killing of a woman by a human being; woman-suffrage, the right of women to vote in public affairs; hence woman-suffragist, an advocate of woman-suffrage; † woman-surgeon, one who beautifies women by the aid of paints, washes, etc.; † woman-tired a. [TIRE v.² 2], hen-pecked; † (on) woman-ways, -wise advs., after the manner of a woman or women.

1739.  Cibber, Apol. (1756), II. 146. (Dial. old Plays) Alexander Goffe, the *woman-actor at Blackfriers … used to be the jackall.

1895.  Kipling, 2nd Jungle Bk., 146. Big skin *‘woman-boats,’ when the dogs and the babies lay among the feet of the rowers.

1818.  Scott, Hrt. Midl., x. It was an awkward thing for a *woman-body to be standing among bundles o’ barkened leather her lane, selling saddles and bridles.

1887.  Hall Caine, Deemster, xii. The young woman-body is dead in child-bed.

1781.  Cowper, Charity, 181. Canst thou … Buy what is *woman-born, and feel no shame?

1842.  J. Wilson, Chr. North (1857), I. 217. Nor in those days needed he [sc. Burns] help from woman-born.

1850.  Fraser’s Mag., Nov., 508/2. That when his back is turned the Senecas may not call him a thief as well as a *woman-dangler.

1628.  Shirley, Witty Fair One, II. ii. What make you here, my *woman errant?

1785.  Burns, Cotter’s Sat. Nt., iv. Their Jenny, *woman-grown, In youthfu’ bloom.

1864.  Tennyson, Aylmer’s F., 108. The maiden woman-grown.

1616.  Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot., 555/2. Cameram lie *woman-hous.

1754.  State of Process, Mrs. Forbes v. D. Scot (Jam.). Water lying on the floors of the woman-house and kitchen.

1552.  Wriothesley, Chron. (Camden), II. 80. Betwene euery xx children [of Christ’s Hospital] [there was] one *woman keeper.

1630.  ? Dekker, Blacke Rod (1925), 217. No Women-keepers to rob you of your Goods, or to hasten you to your End.

a. 1568.  in Bannatyne MS. (Hunter. Club), 419. A *woman lowpar, landless.

1848.  Buckley, Iliad, 249. Accursed Paris, *woman-mad, seducer.

1605.  Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. iii. I. Vocation, 344. May one hope … In *Woman-Men a manly Constancie?

1621.  J. Taylor (Water P.), Superbiæ Flagellum, C 6. The Woman-man, Man-woman, chuse you whether, The Female-male, Male-female, both, yet neither.

1889.  Tennyson, On one who affected an effeminate manner, 4. But friend, man-woman is not woman-man.

1760–72.  H. Brooke, Fool of Qual. (1809), III. 103. Another lady then demanded, if we had not a *woman-market.

1864.  Tennyson, Aylmer’s F., 348. He never yet had set his daughter forth Here in the woman-markets of the west.

1898.  Daily News, 14 Dec., 5/1. It is in educational affairs that the *Woman Movement appears to be making the most progress in the Western States.

1897.  Hinde, Congo Arabs, 32. What every African traveller knows as *‘woman palaver.’

1533.  MSS. Dk. Rutland (Hist. MSS. Comm.), IV. 274. To a *woman phisician … iijs. iiijd.

1591.  H. Smith, Prepar. Marr., 76. To helpe him in his sicknesse, like a woman Phisition.

1625.  Hart, Anat. Ur., II. vi. 85. Much lesse then the ignorant Empiricke, the peticoate or woman-physitian.

1595.  Shaks., John, I. i. 218. But who comes in such haste in riding robes? What *woman post is this?

1626.  Raleigh’s Ghost, in Harl. Misc. (Malh.), III. 547. How he [sc. Gondomar] … answered the expectation … of … the king … shall be declared upon the next return of the woman-post, which passeth betwixt the English and the Spanish Jesuits.

1847.  Tennyson, Princess, IV. 357. A woman-post in flying raiment.

1848.  Buckley, Iliad, 50. Cursed Paris, thou *woman-raving seducer.

a. 1641.  Bp. Mountagu, Acts & Mon., vii. (1642), 395. To which popular credit and *woman-reputation they attained … by their saint-seeming sanctity.

1704.  Lond. Gaz., No. 4003/4. Robert Fleetwood, a *Woman Shoemaker.

1639.  J. Taylor (Water P.), Crabtree Lect., 82. Least there should be man-slaughter, or *woman-slaughter committed.

1720.  T. Gordon, Humourist, I. 169. But only be deem’d Woman-slaughter.

1844.  J. T. Hewlett, Parsons & W., ix. They had never heard of a verdict of woman-slaughter in their lives.

1867.  Times, 11 April, 12/1. *Woman Suffrage. [Text of two petitions.]

1888.  Pall Mall Gaz., 26 Jan., 10/1. The sunflower badge, originated by Mrs. Laura M. Johns, of Kansas, has been adopted by the Iowa *woman suffragists.

1628.  Ford, Lover’s Mel., I. ii. Pel. My nurse was a *woman-surgeon…. Rhe. A she-surgeon, which is in effect a meere matter of colours.

1611.  Shaks., Wint. T., II. iii. 74. Thou dotard, thou art *woman-tyr’d: vnroosted By thy dame Partlet heere.

a. 1568.  Bannatyne MS. (Hunter. Club), 174. With welwet bordour abowt his threidbair coit, On *woman-wayis weill toyit abowt his west.

1865.  Swinburne, Atalanta, 2308. This man Died *woman-wise.

  8.  Comb. with woman’s, as woman’s † poet, tailor; woman’s boat = women’s boat (see 10); woman’s man, a lady’s man, a gallant; † woman’s-meadwort = MEADWORT 2.

1769.  Falconer, Dict. Marine (1776), s.v. Canoe, Umiak, the *woman’s-boat.

1599.  Breton, Wil of Wit (Grosart), 57/1. I thinke it better to bee thought a good *womans man than an ill mans woman.

1693.  Congreve, Old Bach., IV. xiii. Railing is the best qualification in a woman’s man.

1711.  Steele, Spect., No. 156, ¶ 1. The Woman’s Man is a Person in his Air and Behaviour quite different from the rest of our Species.

1729.  T. Cooke, Tales, etc., 93. And him the Women call’d a Woman’s Man.

1818.  Fessenden, Ladies Monitor, 31.

a. 1400–50.  Stockholm Med. MS., lf. 209. Freynch cresse or *wymmannys medewourth.

1620.  B. Jonson, Masque, News fr. New World (1641), 42. Chro. Is he a Mans Poet, or a Womans Poet I pray you? 2 He. Is there any such difference? Fac. Many, as betwixt your mans Taylor, and your womans Taylor.

1597.  Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., III. ii. 161. What Trade art thou Feeble? Feeble. A *Womans Taylor sir.

  9.  Comb. with women: a. appos., serving as plurals of combs. with woman (see 6 b, 7).

13[?].  Cursor M., 2672 (Gött.). Þat ilke lym quar-with Þat þai er kend fra wimmen kith.

1382.  Wyclif, 2 Sam. xix. 35. I may here … the vois of men syngers and of wymmen syngers.

1494.  in Househ. Ord. (1790), 125. The woemen officers for to receave it in the chamber.

1577.  trans. Bullinger’s Decades (1592), 1044. There is in the Church an order of women ministers called women-deacons.

1588.  Kyd, Househ. Phil., Wks. (1901), 273. Homer, who … brought Penelope and Circes in the number of women weauers.

1600.  J. Pory, trans. Leo’s Africa, III. 148. The third kinde or diuiners are women-witches.

c. 1610.  Women Saints (1886), 30. The moste famous women saints.

1614.  Purchas, Pilgrimage, V. xvii. (ed. 2), 542. Ten women-slaues.

1622.  Peacham, Compl. Gentl., i. 11. Women Doctors (of whom for the most part there is more danger, then of the worst disease it selfe).

1625.  Hart, Anat. Ur., I. i. 8. By the aduice of her women-gossips.

1632.  Brome, Court Beggar, V. ii. (1653), S 2 b. Women-Actors now grow in request.

1661.  Walton, Angler, xviii. (ed. 3), 233. A Sticklebag … is good … only to make sport for boyes and women-Anglers.

1771.  T. Hull, Sir W. Harrington (1797), III. 226. A parcel of women-relations.

1859.  Geo. Eliot, Adam Bede, xlii. These poor silly women-things.

1893.  Dict. Nat. Biogr., XXXIV. 200/1. They organised a procession, chiefly of women-workers, to Westminster Hall, which was dispersed by the police.

1898.  Daily News, 2 Dec., 5/1. The Guild of Women-Binders.

  b.  objective, etc. synonymous with the corresp. combs. with woman (see 6 c, 7).

1748.  Richardson, Clarissa (1768), IV. 159. As Daughters will (when women-grown especially). Ibid. (1753–4), Grandison, IV. xiii. 81. These women-frightening heroes.

1856.  ‘C. Bede,’ Tales of Coll. Life, Long-Vac. Vigil, x. The Morning Post … devoted … half a column to these women-absorbing topics.

1896.  Daily News, 26 Dec., 2/2. A nation [sc. France] of women-supported men.

  c.  Special comb.: women-house Sc., a building set apart for women only; † women-matters pl., matters relating to women; women-men pl. (see woman-man, 7); † women-sleepers pl., female nurses (cf. woman-keeper in sense 7); † women-strikers pl. [STRIKER sb. 2 d], prostitutes; women-suffrage = woman-suffrage (see 7).

1792.  Statist. Acc. Scot., II. 149. At these [bleach-] fields … there are a number of women not having families, nor residing in families, but in *women-houses, so called, erected on purpose.

c. 1865.  J. Shaw, in R. Wallace, Country Schoolm. (1899), 154. The prison-like incarceration of them [poor, ignorant girls] in large central buildings of the public works called ‘women-houses,’ there to toil with unremitting regularity.

1632.  B. Jonson, Magn. Lady, IV. ii. Keep these *women-matters … in our own verge.

1864.  Meredith, Emilia, xxxvi. Are there men-women and *women men?… have we changed parts to-night?

1630.  ? Dekker, London looke back (1925), 190. When the Bell hath ceast tolling for thee, and thy *Women-sleepers leaue gaping for thy Linnen.

1665.  Needham, Med. Medicinæ, 73. [Zacutus] hardly grants any possibility of *Women-strikers escaping [pox].

1867.  Times, 4 March, 6/4. Mr. Mill upon *Women Sufirage.

  10.  Comb. with women’s: women’s-boat, a boat to be used by women only = OOMIAK; women’s courses, † evil = CATAMENIA; † women’s-kins, of the female sex; women’s men, pl. of woman’s man (see 8); women’s suffrage = woman-suffrage (see 7).

1823.  Scoresby, Jrnl., p. xxx. They had made a three years excursion along the eastern coast in a *women’s-boat.

1615.  Crooke, Body of Man, 62. Where wee apply cupping glasses to bring down *womens courses.

1379.  MS. Glouc. Cathedr. 19, 1. iv. 2 b. Menstrua. In Englyssh *wymmens yvell.

1534.  Will of Sir W. Butler (Somerset Ho.). Euerye of my seruauntes as well menskynes as *womenskynnes.

1712.  Addison, Spect., No. 536, ¶ 2. That part of Mankind who are known by the Name of the *Womens-Men or Beaus.

1781.  R. King, Mod. Lond. Spy, 59. We now drank our tea, which, to what are called women’s men, is at that time of the evening generally very agreeable.

1868.  Stuart Mill, in Times, 11 May, 10/4. I am very happy to hear that you have formed at Birmingham a branch of the National Society for *Women’s Suffrage.