1881, Arthur Douglass, “Preparing the Feathers for Market”, inOstrich Farming in South Africa. Being an Account of Its Origin and Rise; How to set about it; The Profits to be derived; How to Manage the Birds; The Capital required; the Diseases and Difficulties to be met with, &c. &c., London, Paris, New York, N.Y.:Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co.; London: S. W. Silver & Co.,[…],page84:
The numbers are given here to show all the whites together, and then thefeminas, &c.; but in sending them to market it is better to arrange the numbers so that a lot of whites are followed by a lot offeminas, then a lot of whites again, then a lot of fancy colours, then whites again, and so on right through.
Feathers. — The auctions will comprise 3168 cases, containing 58,000lbs., against 53,800lb. in last sales. There was a good demand, and white and white and lightFemina best quality were firm, seconds and inferior 10s. to 15s. per lb. higher.
1899 September 8, “The Ostrich Feather Market”, inDemocrat and Chronicle, 67th year, Rochester, N.Y., page15, column 5:
A noticeable feature of the sales was the quantity of fine goods, principally of white andfeminas. The best white qualities and good broken brought 10 per cent. to 15 per cent. advance, while other qualities sold firmly. White and lightfemina were also 10 to 15 per cent. dearer, principally for the best lines. Darkfemina and byocks were 10 per cent. higher.
1909,Agricultural Journal of the Cape of Good Hope, page514:
3.—Wing-Quills or Remiges;Whites andFeminas.—The wing-quills are the largest feathers in the wing, and are arranged in a single row. They include the “Whites” in the cock, and the “Feminas” in the hen, as well as the “Byocks” or “Fancies” in the cock.
1909 August 12, “Ostrich Feathers of Tripoli”, inNeenah Daily Times, volume53, number8,451, Neenah, Wis., Menasha, Wis., column 5:
The usual kinds of ostrich feathers known to the trade come into the Tripoli market. These are whites, blacks,feminas, byocks, spadonas, boos, drabs and floss.
1912 July 17,The Boston Daily Globe, volume LXXXII, number17, Boston, Mass., page16, column 5:
Thefeminas brought from $97.35 to $109.50, while spadones were sacrificed at from $34 to $47.45.
1913,The Agricultural Journal of British East Africa, page 8:
It is somewhat larger than the Southern bird and the plumage of young birds and also thefeminas are darker.
1921 September 7,The New York Times, volume LXX, number23,237, New York, N.Y., page24, column 6:
RAW OSTRICH FEATHERS / Primes, Wings, WhiteFeminas, Spads, Etc.
1923,South African Law Reports. Cape Provincial Division: Decisions of the Supreme Court of South Africa (Cape of Good Hope Provincial Decision)., page532:
This parcel included 286 lbs. of feathers known aswhites, and 211 lbs. of feathers known asfeminas. The whites are described as lot 12, and thefeminas as lot 13.
^“femina,n.”, inDictionary of South African English, Makhanda, Eastern Cape: Dictionary Unit for South African English,1996–2025: “Origin: Latin, ‘woman’.”
^“An Ostrich-Feather Sale”, inLondon Society. An Illustrated Magazine of Light and Amusing Literature for the Hours of Relaxation., volume XXXV, London,[…],1879 February,page186: “[…]and Femina and Spadona are Italian words pure. Asfemmina (its proper spelling), for the first, female; asspadone, for the second, a large flat sword;[…]these two last ‘sorts’ tell how Italian merchants originated the importation of ostrich feathers into Europe;”
conveniunt, quibus aut odium crudele tyranni aut metus acer erat; navis, quae forte paratae, corripiunt, onerantque auro: portantur avari Pygmalionis opes pelago; duxfemina facti.
Those came together that either felt ruthless hate or bitter fear for their tyrant. They seized ships that had incidentally already been arranged and loaded them with gold. The treasures of avaricious Pygmalion were carried to the sea; the leader of the action was awoman.
Prius quam messim facies, porcam praecidaneam hoc modo fieri oportet. Cereri porca praecidanea porcofemina, prius quam hasce fruges condantur: far, triticum, hordeum, fabam, semen rapicium. thure, vino Iano Iovi Iunoni praefato, prius quam porcumfeminam immolabis.
Before you carry out the harvest, it is proper to offer theporca praecidanea in this manner. Offer to Ceres afemale pig asporca praecidanea before these crops are stored: emmer, wheat, barley, beans, and rapeseed. With incense and wine, offer a prayer to Janus, Jupiter, and Juno before you sacrifice thefemale pig.
Nam primum aliae (bestiae) mares, aliaefeminae sunt, quod perpetuitatis causa machinata natura est, deinde partes corporis et ad procreandum et ad concipiendum aptissimae, et in mari et infemina commiscendorum corporum mirae libidines; [...]
To begin with, some of them (animals) are of gender males, othersfemales, the which is for nature's perpetuity wrought, whence of each their parts in procreation and conceiving be optimal, and so the wanton desires in male andfemale towards sexual union of their own body; [...]
“Paelicem” autem appellatam probrosamque habitam, quae iuncta consuetaque esset cum eo in cuius manu mancipioque alia matrimonii causa foret, hac antiquissima lege ostenditur, quam Numae regis fuisse accepimus: “Paelex aedem Iunonis ne tangito; si tangit, Iunoni crinibus demissis agnumfeminam caedito.”
1927 translation by John C. Rolfe
Moreover, a woman was called paelex, or “concubine,” and regarded as infamous, if she lived on terms of intimacy with a man who had another woman under his legal control in a state of matrimony, as is evident from this very ancient law, which we are told was one of king Numa’s: “Let no concubine touch the temple of Juno; if she touch it, let her, with hair unbound, offer up aewe lamb to Juno.”
Aside from its use as an independent noun, it is often used appositively with the sense "female" to modify another noun (compare the coordinate termmās(“male”)). It can be used this way with either grammatically feminine or grammatically masculine nouns and retains first-declension forms in either case, as in "Caere porcus biceps et agnus mas idemfeminaque natus erat" ("At Caere a two-headed piglet and a lamb-M.SG (that was) male and at the same timefemale was born-M.SG").
“fēmĭna”, inCharlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879)A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“femina”, inCharlton T. Lewis (1891)An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
"femina", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’sGlossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
^De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “fēmina”, inEtymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill,→ISBN,page210
