muliebrity

American  

[myoo-lee-eb-ri-tee] / ˌmyu liˈɛb rɪ ti /

noun

1. womanly nature or qualities.

2. womanhood.

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muliebrity British  

/ ˌmjuːlɪˈɛbrɪtɪ /

noun

1. the condition of being a woman

2. femininity

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Other Word Forms

• muliebral adjective

Etymology

Origin of muliebrity

1585–95; < Late Latin muliēbritās womanhood, equivalent to Latin muliēbri ( s ) womanly (derivative of mulier woman) + -tās -ty ²

Explanation

A persons's muliebrity is her femininity or womanliness. An idolizing kindergartner might admire her dress-wearing, curly-haired teacher's muliebrity. The noun muliebrity is quite uncommon, and today it's almost always used in a literary context. A poet might describe a beautiful woman's muliebrity, for example. The word comes from the Late Latin word muliebritas, "state of womanhood," which is rooted in one of the Latin words for "woman," mulier.

Example Sentences

Apodeictic, muliebrity, mansuetude, even caducity, caliginosity, nitid, agrestic, roborant or vilipend have Latin or Greek roots that are very familiar to me and most high school graduates.

From Time Magazine Archive

And as Sonia herself was growing up to womanhood, or, in Mr. WATSON'S elegant phrase, "muliebrity claimed her definitely"—well, he is an enviable reader for whom the last page will hold any considerable surprise.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 156, May 28, 1919 by Various

The health of American wives, their muliebrity or womanly power, is sapped in various ways.

From Brann the Iconoclast — Volume 01 by Brann, William Cowper

She had not married, I suppose because her standards were high, and men are cowards and with an instinctive appetite for muliebrity.

From The New Machiavelli by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)