Woman - Terms

A woman is an adult female human, as contrasted with a man (an adult male), and a girl, (a female child). The term woman (irregular plural: women) is used to indicate biological sex distinctions, cultural gender role distinctions, or both. Woman - Etymology. The English term "man" (from Proto-Germanic mannaz "man, person") and words derived therefrom can designate any or even all of the human race regardless of their gender or age. This is indeed the oldest usage of "man". In Old Englis ...

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• Woman - Etymology
• Woman - Biology and sex
• Woman - Legal rights of women historically
• Woman - Biblical law
• Woman - Culture and gender roles
• Woman - Terms
• Woman - Slang
• Woman - Vulgar terms

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The English language's original word for "woman" was Old English wīf, akin to German Weib; it later became the modern word "wife." The modern word "woman" etymologically derives from wīfmann, with the addition of mann, "person", from Germanic mannaz. This formation is peculiar to English. The equivalents for "man" in Old English were wer (a cognate of Latin vir, "man") and wǣpnedmann, literally "weaponed person". As previously mentioned, the term man continues to carry its original sense of "Human", though this usage results in an asymmetry which is ...

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Woman, Woman - Etymology, Woman - Biology and sex, Woman - Legal rights of women historically, Woman - Biblical law, Woman - Culture and gender roles, Woman - Terms, Woman - Slang, Woman - Vulgar terms

Read more here: » Woman: Encyclopedia II - Woman - Terms

The English language's original word for "woman" was Old English wīf, akin to German Weib; it later became the modern word "wife." The modern word "woman" etymologically derives from wīfmann, with the addition of mann, "person", from Germanic mannaz. This formation is peculiar to English. The equivalents for "man" in Old English were wer (a cognate of Latin vir, "man") and wǣpnedmann, literally "weaponed person". As previously mentioned, the term man continues to carry its original sense of "Human", though this usage results in an asymmetry which is ...

See also:

Woman, Woman - Etymology, Woman - Biology and sex, Woman - Legal rights of women historically, Woman - Biblical law, Woman - Culture and gender roles, Woman - Terms

Read more here: » Woman: Encyclopedia II - Woman - Terms

Some early legal systems that are the antecedents of modern systems formalized female dependency. Woman - Biblical law. In the Mosaic law, divorce was not to be performed easily--only under certain circumstances. In most cases, divorce was carried out when the husband or the wife commited adultery, in which case the adulterer was stoned (unless shown mercy). A husband could sign a certificate of divorce if he found indecency in his wife, but if the husband accused his wife of misconduct and if proven other ...

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Woman, Woman - Etymology, Woman - Biology and sex, Woman - Legal rights of women historically, Woman - Biblical law, Woman - Culture and gender roles, Woman - Terms

Read more here: » Woman: Encyclopedia II - Woman - Legal rights of women historically

Main article: gender role In many prehistoric cultures, women assumed a particular cultural role. In hunter-gatherer societies, women were generally the gatherers of plant foods, while men hunted meat. Because of their intimate knowledge of plant life, most anthropologists argue that it was women who led the Neolithic Revolution and became history's first pioneers of agriculture. In more recent history, the gender roles of women have changed greatly. Traditional gender roles for middle-class women typically involved dome ...

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Woman, Woman - Etymology, Woman - Biology and sex, Woman - Legal rights of women historically, Woman - Biblical law, Woman - Culture and gender roles, Woman - Terms

Read more here: » Woman: Encyclopedia II - Woman - Culture and gender roles

Biological factors are not the sole determinants of whether persons are considered, or consider themselves, women. Some women can have abnormal hormonal or chromosomal differences (such as congenital adrenal hyperplasia, complete or partial androgen insensitivity syndrome or other intersex conditions), and there are women who may be without, at least for an earlier part of their lives, typical female physiology (trans, transgendered or t ...

See also:

Woman, Woman - Etymology, Woman - Biology and sex, Woman - Legal rights of women historically, Woman - Biblical law, Woman - Culture and gender roles, Woman - Terms

Read more here: » Woman: Encyclopedia II - Woman - Biology and sex

The English term "man" (from Proto-Germanic mannaz "man, person") and words derived therefrom can designate any or even all of the human race regardless of their gender or age. This is indeed the oldest usage of "man". In Old English the words wer and wyf (also wæpman and wifman) were what was used to refer to "a man" and "a woman" respectively, and "man" was gender neutral. In Middle English man displaced wer as term for "male human", whilst wyfman (which eventually evolved into woman) was retained for "female human". "Man" does continue to carry its original sense of "Human" however, resulting in an asymmetry sometimes criticiz ...

See also:

Woman, Woman - Etymology, Woman - Biology and sex, Woman - Legal rights of women historically, Woman - Biblical law, Woman - Culture and gender roles, Woman - Terms, Woman - Slang, Woman - Vulgar terms

Read more here: » Woman: Encyclopedia II - Woman - Etymology

Some early legal systems that are the antecedents of modern systems formalized female dependency. Woman - Biblical law. In the Mosaic law, divorce was not to be performed easily--only under certain circumstances. In most cases, divorce was carried out when the husband or the wife commited adultery, in which case the adulterer was stoned (unless shown mercy). A husband could sign a certificate of divorce if he found indecency in his wife, but if the husband accused his wife of misconduct and if proven other ...

See also:

Woman, Woman - Etymology, Woman - Biology and sex, Woman - Legal rights of women historically, Woman - Biblical law, Woman - Culture and gender roles, Woman - Terms, Woman - Slang, Woman - Vulgar terms

Read more here: » Woman: Encyclopedia II - Woman - Legal rights of women historically

Main article: gender role In many prehistoric cultures, women assumed a particular cultural role. In hunter-gatherer societies, women were generally the gatherers of plant foods, while men hunted meat. Because of their intimate knowledge of plant life, most anthropologists argue that it was women who led the Neolithic Revolution and became history's first pioneers of agriculture. In more recent history, the gender roles of women have changed greatly. Traditional gender roles for middle-class women typically involved dome ...

See also:

Woman, Woman - Etymology, Woman - Biology and sex, Woman - Legal rights of women historically, Woman - Biblical law, Woman - Culture and gender roles, Woman - Terms, Woman - Slang, Woman - Vulgar terms

Read more here: » Woman: Encyclopedia II - Woman - Culture and gender roles

Biological factors are not the sole determinants of whether persons are considered, or consider themselves, women. Some women can have abnormal hormonal or chromosomal differences (such as congenital adrenal hyperplasia, complete or partial androgen insensitivity syndrome or other intersex conditions), and there are women who may be without, at least for an earlier part of their lives, typical female physiology (trans, transgendered or t ...

See also:

Woman, Woman - Etymology, Woman - Biology and sex, Woman - Legal rights of women historically, Woman - Biblical law, Woman - Culture and gender roles, Woman - Terms, Woman - Slang, Woman - Vulgar terms

Read more here: » Woman: Encyclopedia II - Woman - Biology and sex

The English term "man" (from Proto-Germanic mannaz "man, person") and words derived therefrom can designate any or even all of the human race regardless of their gender or age. This is indeed the oldest usage of "man". In Old English the words wer and wyf (also wæpman and wifman) were what was used to refer to "a man" and "a woman" respectively, and "man" was gender neutral. In Middle English man displaced wer as term for "male human", whilst wyfman (which eventually evolved into woman) was retained for "female human". "Man" does continue to carry its original sense of "Human" however, resulting in an asymmetry sometimes criticiz ...

See also:

Woman, Woman - Etymology, Woman - Biology and sex, Woman - Legal rights of women historically, Woman - Biblical law, Woman - Culture and gender roles, Woman - Terms

Read more here: » Woman: Encyclopedia II - Woman - Etymology