feminize

verb

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)-der. Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-éh₂ Proto-Italic *θēmanā Proto-Italic *fēmanā Latin fēmina Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)bor. Late Latin -izōder. Middle French -iserbor. Middle English -isen English -ize English feminize From Latin fēmina (“woman, female”) + English -ize.

1. To make (more) feminine.

   “Parabiosis experiments on primitive vertebrates showed inversion of sex in either direction, males were feminized and females masculinized.”

   “The comedies work in very obvious ways to feminize this socially-ominous triad of young fops, old lechers, and greedy businessmen.”

2. To become (more) feminine.