C16: from Anglo-French, ultimately from Latin fēmina woman
feme in American English
(fem)
noun
Law
a woman or wife
Word origin
[1585–95; ‹ AF, OF fem(m)e ‹ L fēmina woman; akin to fetus, fecund]This word is first recorded in the period 1585–95. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: develop, keyhole, naturalize, puzzle, switch