Editing Woman (section)

== Etymology ==
{{See also|Man (word)}}
The spelling of ''woman'' in English has progressed over the past millennium from {{Lang|ang|wīfmann}}<ref>"wīfmann": Bosworth & Toller, ''Anglo-Saxon Dictionary'' (Oxford, 1898–1921) p. 1219. The spelling "wifman" also occurs: C.T. Onions, ''[[Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology]]'' (Oxford, 1966) p. 1011</ref> to ''wīmmann'' to ''wumman'', and finally, the modern spelling ''woman''.<ref>''Webster's New World Dictionary, Second College Edition'', entry for "woman".</ref> In [[Old English]], {{Lang|ang|mann}} had the gender-neutral meaning of {{gloss|human}}, akin to the Modern {{gloss|person}} or {{gloss|someone}}. The word for {{gloss|woman}} was {{Lang|ang|wīf}} or {{Lang|ang|wīfmann}} ({{Literal translation|woman-person}}) whereas {{gloss|[[man]]}} was {{Lang|ang|wer}} or {{Lang|ang|wǣpnedmann}} (from {{Lang|ang|wǣpn}} {{Gloss|weapon; penis}}). However, following the [[Norman Conquest]], ''man'' began to mean {{gloss|male human}}, and by the late 13th century it had largely replaced {{Lang|ang|wer}}.<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=man man] – definition Dictionary.reference.com</ref> The consonants {{IPA|/f/}} and {{IPA|/m/}} in {{Lang|ang|wīfmann}} [[Coalescence (linguistics)|coalesced]] into the modern ''woman'', while {{Lang|ang|wīf}} [[Narrowing (historical linguistics)|narrowed]] to specifically mean a married woman ({{gloss|wife}}).

It is a [[Folk etymology|popular misconception]] that the term "woman" is [[etymologically]] connected to "womb".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stanton |first1=Elizabeth Cady |url=https://archive.org/details/womansbibleclass0000stan |title=The Woman's Bible: A Classic Feminist Perspective |date=2002 |publisher=[[Dover Publications]] |isbn=978-0486424910 |location=Mineola, New York |pages=21–22 |chapter=The Book of Genesis, Chapter II |quote=Next comes the naming of the mother of the race. "She shall be called Woman", in the ancient form of the word Womb-man. She was man and more than man because of her maternity. |url-access=registration}} (Originally published in two volumes, 1895 and 1898, by The European Publishing Company.)</ref> "Womb" derives from the Old English word {{Lang|ang|wamb}} meaning {{gloss|belly, uterus}}<ref name=OED>{{cite web|title=womb (n.)|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/womb|website=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]]|access-date=29 August 2019}}</ref> (cognate to the modern German colloquial term "{{Lang|de|Wamme}}" from Old High German {{Lang|goh|wamba}} for {{gloss|belly, paunch, lap}}).<ref name=Starostin>{{cite web|author=S. Starostin|url=http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?single=1&basename=/data/ie/germet&text_number=%20562|title=Germanic etymology|website=The Tower of Babel}}</ref><ref name=Kluge>{{cite book|last1=Kluge|first1=Friedrich|title=An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language|date=1891|page=384 |publisher=[[George Bell & Sons]]|location=London|url=https://archive.org/details/etymologicaldict |archive-url=https://archive.org/details/etymologicaldict00kluguoft/page/384|archive-date=November 1, 2007|quote=Translated by John Francis Davis, D.Litl, M.A.}}</ref>