Frenchwomen

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Women who are citizens of or born in France, or who come from the French nation
2. Females belonging to the population of the country of France in Western Europe
3. Ladies originating from the nation of France, regardless of where they currently live

Etymology: "Frenchwomen" is the plural of "Frenchwoman," and the plural is the older-looking form: the Middle English phrase "Frensche wymen" was the original construction, with "Frensche" as the adjective and "wymen" as the plural noun. The singular "Frenchwoman" was later built from the same parts, joining the adjective "French" to "woman" as a compound, so the two words grew up together. The base word "French" comes from Old English "Frencisc," meaning "of the Franks," the Germanic people who gave their name to the kingdom of Francia. Over time the sense narrowed from the Franks to the people of France, and the adjective spread into a whole family of compounds. The second element, "woman," is an ordinary English word that has kept its meaning. Pairing a nationality with "woman" or "man" is a plain, productive pattern in English, so "Frenchwoman" needed no special coinage: it is simply an adjective followed by a noun, fused into one word.