mulieris

Mulieris is the genitive singular form of the Latin noun mulier, meaning a woman. In Latin syntax this form is used to express possession or a descriptive relationship, and it is typically translated as “of the woman” or “woman’s.” The word mulier belongs to the feminine side of the third declension, with mulieris as its genitive, mulieri as the dative, mulierem as the accusative, and muliere as the ablative; the plural forms are used in corresponding cases.

In historical usage, mulieris appears in classical, late antique, and medieval Latin texts wherever a genitive need arises, to indicate ownership, relation, or description between a woman and another noun. As a grammatical marker, mulieris is not a standalone word with a specific sense beyond “of the woman” but rather a syntactic form that helps build phrases such as “voluntas mulieris” (the will of the woman) or “memoria mulieris” (the memory of the woman) in proper contexts.

One notable modern usage is in the title of Pope John Paul II’s apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem, written in 1988. In this title, mulieris appears in the genitive to express “of the woman” or “of women,” yielding the common translation The Dignity of Women. This usage has contributed to the term’s visibility beyond strictly linguistic circles and into discussions of gender and theology.