| 释义 |
womanhood|ˈwʊmənhʊd|
Forms and etym.: see woman n. and -hood.
1. The state or condition of being a woman.
c1374Chaucer Troylus i. 283 Alle here lymes so wel answerynge Weren to womanhode. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 545 She.., contrarie to Gods lawe, and the honest estate of womanhood, was clothed in mans apparell. 1598Shakes. Merry W. iv. ii. 220 May we with the warrant of womanhood..pursue him with any further reuenge? 1823Byron Juan ix. lxxi, Her womanhood In its meridian. 1859Tennyson Marr. Geraint 176 She..with all grace Of womanhood and queenhood, answer'd him. 1860Hawthorne Marble Faun v, Her first conception of the stern Jewess had..been that of perfect womanhood.
b. (a) The state of being a grown woman; the period of life succeeding to girlhood.
1608Willet Hexapla Exod. 470 Si appareant in ea signa pubertatis, if the signes of her womanhood appeared. 1712Steele Spect. No. 534 ⁋1 This has been my State, till I came toward Years of Womanhood. 1784Cowper Task iv. 227 Misses..assume the dress Of womanhood. 1848Dickens Dombey xlvii, The change from childhood to womanhood. 1893Crockett Stickit Minister 40 Janet grew to womanhood without a sweetheart.
(b) attrib. in womanhood suffrage, formerly freq. used (after manhood 7) for woman-suffrage (woman n. 7).
1892Daily News 28 Apr. 3/2 A future system of manhood and womanhood suffrage.
2. The disposition, character, or qualities natural to a woman or womankind; womanliness.
c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 1041 Dido, If that god..Wolde han a loue for beaute & goodnesse And womanhod [v.r. womanhede] & trouthe. 1552Huloet, Womanhode, muliebritas. 1590Greene Never too late i. (1600) E 2, Courage is knowne in extremities, womanhood in distresse. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. iii. 125 There's neyther Faith, Truth, nor Woman-hood in me else. 1621R. Brathwait Nat. Embassie 160 To transgresse the bounds of womanhood. 1755Johnson, Womanhood, Womanhead, the character and collective qualities of a woman. Obsolete. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop xxxiii, Miss Brass's maiden modesty and gentle womanhood. 1886Ruskin Præterita I. viii. 255 My mother..had sympathy with every passion of true womanhood.
3. Women collectively, womankind.
1523Skelton Garl. Laurel 992 Maydenly demure, Of womanhode the lure. 1718Freethinker No. 39 They contribute to make this kind of Womanhood more universal, than it would otherwise be. 1858Miss Mulock Woman's Th. 71 The infinite wrongs, errors, and sufferings of this mass of womanhood. 1889Skrine Mem. Thring 203 Uppingham womanhood must next be taught to cook. |