noun
- the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men.
- (sometimes initial capital letter) an organized movement for the attainment of such rights for women.
- Older Use. feminine character.
noun
- a doctrine or movement that advocates equal rights for women
1851, “state of being feminine;” sense of “advocacy of women’s rights” is 1895, from French féminisme (1837); see feminine + -ism.
The doctrine — and the political movement based on it — that women should have the same economic, social, and political rights as men. (See under “Anthropology, Psychology, and Sociology.”)
A movement for granting women political, social, and economic equality with men. (See women’s movement.)