misogyne (French)
Where does "misogyne" come from?
The French word 'misogyne' is a learned borrowing derived directly from the Ancient Greek 'misogynēs', a compound of 'misos' (hatred) and 'gynē' (woman). The roots of this term reach back centuries, with 'gynē' sharing common ancestry with the English word 'queen' through their Proto-Indo-European origins. Over time, the term maintained its core meaning of woman-hating as it transitioned from Greek into French.
Full etymology tree
- misogyne (French), 'misogynistic, misogynist, misogynic, misogynous'
- learned borrowing μισογύνης (misogúnēs) (Ancient Greek), 'a woman-hater'
- derived μῑσόγῠνος (mīsógŭnos) (Ancient Greek)
- compound μῑσέω (mīséō) (Ancient Greek)
- derived μῖσος (mîsos) (Ancient Greek), 'hatred, hate'
- inherited *mewHdʰ- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to complain or care about something'
- affix -έω (-éō) (Ancient Greek), 'Used to form verbs from nouns, adjectives and other verbs. Often, not always, added to the stems of thematic nouns or adjectives in -ος (-os).'
- derived μῖσος (mîsos) (Ancient Greek), 'hatred, hate'
- compound γυνή (gunḗ) (Ancient Greek), 'woman, female'
- inherited *gʷonā (Proto-Hellenic), 'woman'
- inherited *gʷḗn (Proto-Indo-European), 'woman'
- inherited *gʷonā (Proto-Hellenic), 'woman'
- affix -ος (-os) (Ancient Greek), 'Added to verbal roots to form an o-grade action noun.'
- compound μῑσέω (mīséō) (Ancient Greek)
- affix -ης (-ēs) (Ancient Greek), 'Forms third-declension adjectives with stems in -εσ- (-es-); very common in compounds.'
- derived μῑσόγῠνος (mīsógŭnos) (Ancient Greek)
- learned borrowing μισογύνης (misogúnēs) (Ancient Greek), 'a woman-hater'
Ancestors
- μισογύνης (Ancient Greek)
Descendants and derived words
- misogynie (French)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris