FEMININE, in Grammar, one of the genders of nouns, namely, the second.
The feminine gender is that which denotes that the noun or name belongs to a female. In the Latin the feminine gender is formed from the masculine by altering its termination, particularly by changing us into a. Thus, of the masculine bonus equus, a good horse, is formed the feminine bona equa, a good mare; and so, of parens homo, a little man, is formed parva femina, a little woman.
In French, the feminine gender is expressed, not by a different termination, but by a different article. Thus, le is joined to a male, and la to a female.
In English, we are generally more strict, and express the difference of sex, not by different terminations nor by different particles, but by different words; as boar and sow, boy and girl, brother and sister; though sometimes the feminine is formed by varying the termination of the masculine into ess, as in abbot, abbess, and the like.