woman

noun

wom·​an ˈwu̇-mən 

especially Southern

ˈwō- 

or

ˈwə- 

plural women ˈwi-mən 

1

a

: an adult female person

b

: a woman belonging to a particular category (as by birth, residence, membership, or occupation)

—usually used in combination

councilwoman

2

: womankind

3

: distinctively feminine nature : womanliness

4

: a woman who is a servant or personal attendant

5

a

chiefly dialectal : wife

b

: mistress

c

: girlfriend sense 2

6

: a woman who is extremely fond of or devoted to something specified

I'm a chocolate woman through and through, but one bite of West's banana pudding cupcake and I was sold.

—Hattie Brown Garrow

woman adjective

womanless

ˈwu̇-mən-ləs 

 especially Southern  ˈwō-

 or  ˈwə-

adjective

Synonyms

• lady
• female

Examples of woman in a Sentence

She grew up to become a confident and beautiful woman.

She is a grown woman.

The store sells shoes for both men and women.

Recent Examples on the Web

Every student who takes Lavigne’s class, every young person who sees a Black woman owning and operating a cooking school in New Orleans, receives a different message about what’s possible. —Sughnen Yongo, Forbes.com, 14 July 2025

The Mountain West hired the firm to handle the investigation in the same month that the same firm represented the conference to protect Fleming's eligibility in a request for preliminary injunction to have the trans athlete disqualified from women's competition and the conference tournament. —Ryan Gaydos , Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 14 July 2025

In 2011, the NCAA committee on women’s athletics (CWA) urged both organizations to collaborate on a unified sport proposal. —Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 14 July 2025

Princess Kate at Wimbledon: The royal serves in white look, sits next to Billie Jean King This marked another appearance at Wimbledon for Kate, who on July 12 attended the women's singles final wearing a white ensemble. —Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 14 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English wīfman, from wīf woman, wife + man human being, man

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing woman

• a man/woman/person of substance
• a man/woman/person to be reckoned with
• a man/woman/person to reckon with
• a marked man/woman
• anti-woman
• battered woman syndrome
• cleaning woman
• emancipated woman
• fancy woman
• kept woman
• like a man/woman possessed
• little woman
• make an honest woman of (someone)
• make (someone) an honest woman
• man/woman of few words
• man/woman of his/her word
• one-woman
• other woman
• Renaissance woman
• the little woman
• the other woman
• trans woman
• woman/man of style
• woman of color
• woman of ill repute
• woman of letters
• woman of the street
• woman of the world
• woman's/feminine touch
• woman's rights
• woman suffrage

Rhymes for woman

• businesswoman
• congresswoman
• englishwoman
• gentlewoman
• noblewoman
• policewoman
• washerwoman
• chairwoman
• frenchwoman
• kinswoman
• madwoman
• saleswoman

Kids Definition

woman

noun

wom·​an ˈwu̇m-ən 

plural women ˈwim-ən 

1

: an adult female person

2

: womankind

3

: a woman who is a servant or attendant

Etymology

Old English wīfman "a female person," from wīf "woman, wife" and man "person"