Muliebrity

WORD OF THE DAY

muliebrity / noun / myoo-lee-EB-ruh-tee

Definition

1: the quality of being a woman 

2: femininity

Examples

Helene tried to convey to her daughter that muliebrity was best expressed not by dressing a certain way or conforming to others' expectations, but by being her own true, confident self.

"Wonder Woman has flaws.… It succeeds in spite of them, and that is to be admired, but we cannot start viewing this as the epitome of the female superhero motion picture. We will accomplish more, and faster if we view this film as the starting point for muliebrity in the comic-book blockbuster." 

— Thomas Burns Scully, PopDust, 5 June 2017

Did You Know?

Muliebrity has been used in English to suggest the distinguishing character or qualities of a woman or of womankind since the 16th century. (Its masculine counterpart, virility, entered the language at about the same time.) 

Muliebrity comes from Latin mulier, meaning "woman," and probably is a cognate of Latin mollis, meaning "soft." Mollis is also the source of the English verb mollify—a word that implies a "softening" of hurt feelings or anger.