feminines

Feminines is the plural form of feminine in various contexts. In linguistics, it denotes a feminine grammatical gender used to classify nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and sometimes verbs in agreement systems. Many languages assign nouns to masculine or feminine (and sometimes neuter). The feminine form can be marked by definite articles, noun endings, or agreement with adjectives, as in examples such as la casa in Spanish or la fille in French. Some languages distinguish natural gender from grammatical gender, while others base gender on form rather than meaning.

In social and cultural usage, feminine or femininity denotes traits, behaviors, and roles traditionally associated with women or girls, or with characteristics culturally stereotyped as feminine, such as gentleness, nurturance, or aesthetics. Conceptualizations of femininity vary across cultures and historical periods and intersect with race, class, sexuality, and nationality. Feminine norms are discussed in gender studies and feminism, including debates about essentialism, gender performance, and roles in family, work, and public life.

The term appears in linguistic discussions of agreement, morphology, and language change, and in cultural analyses of gender and identity. It is also used to describe feminine forms of objects, attire, or expressions in fashion, art, and media. While related, feminine as a grammatical category differs from feminine as a social construct, and both are studied to understand how language and society shape perceptions of gender.