Feminine
The receptive, nurturing, yielding, and intuitive forces of the universe β cyclical and perennial, but eternal. (compare with Masculine)
How We Say It
femΒ·ΙΒ·nin
Where It Comes From
Latin femininus β of a woman. From femina β woman. Originally a grammatical term in Latin and Greek β one of three grammatical genders along with masculine and neuter. The extension of grammatical gender to social and cosmological categories is ancient but contested.
How It's Been Used
Operates in multiple registers β grammatical, biological, psychological, archetypal, and cosmological. Carl Jung's anima and animus, Taoist yin and yang, Hindu Shakti β many traditions treat feminine and masculine as cosmic principles rather than properties of bodies. Modern gender theory has unsettled the assumed correspondence between biological sex, gender identity, and these older symbolic systems.