noun
feminism
FEH-mih-nihzm
noun
1
A movement and set of beliefs advocating that women should have the same rights and opportunities as men.
"Her thesis traced the history of feminism from the suffrage movement onward."
How to Use Feminism
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishThe political and social movement for gender equality.
Common pairings
first-wave feminism
a feminism scholar
Word Forms
feminisms plural
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Her thesis traced the history of _____ from the suffrage movement onward.
Etymology
Borrowed from French féminisme around 1837, from Latin femina ("woman"). It originally meant simply "the state of being feminine" in English before taking on its modern political sense around 1895.