gynaeceum

See also: gynæceum

English

Alternative forms

• gynæceum, gyneceum

Etymology

From Latin gynaecēum, gynaecīum, from Ancient Greek γυναικεῖον (gunaikeîon), from γυνή (gunḗ, “woman”). By surface analysis, gynaec- +‎ -eum.

Noun

gynaeceum (plural gynaeceums or gynaecea)

1. (Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome) The women's quarters in a household; (hence, loosely) any building or area for women.
   • 1926, PL Jacob, History of Prostitution, page 249:

     A master, however this may be, was very jealous of the inmates of his gyneceum, and he permitted no one to enter the place, which was protected as a sanctuary in the legislation of the Barbarians.

   • 1984, Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac, Penguin, published 2016, page 61:

     It was agreeable to see men, after days in this gyneceum, bringing the place to life, to see waiters speeding to their command.

2. (obsolete) An establishment in Rome where female workers made clothing and furniture for royalty.
3. (botany) A gynoecium.
   • 1929, Arthur Henry Reginald Buller, Practical Botany, page 205:

     The androecium functions by providing the pollen-grains which are necessary to bring about fertilisation of the ovules in the gynaeceum.

Synonyms

• (women's quarters) gynaeconitis

Translations

women's quarters in a household

• Armenian: կանանոց (hy) (kananocʿ)
• Catalan: gineceu m
• Finnish: gynaikeion (fi)
• French: gynécée (fr) m
• Latin: gynaecēum
• Polish: gineceum n, gyneceum n

establishment in Rome

References

• William Dwight Whitney (1906) The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, page 2667

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek γυναικεῖον (gunaikeîon).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ɡy.nae̯ˈkeː.um/, [ɡʏnäe̯ˈkeːʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒi.neˈt͡ʃe.um/, [d͡ʒineˈt͡ʃɛːum]

Noun

gynaecēum n (genitive gynaecēī); second declension

1. women's quarters in a Greek house

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	gynaecēum	gynaecēa
Genitive	gynaecēī	gynaecēōrum
Dative	gynaecēō	gynaecēīs
Accusative	gynaecēum	gynaecēa
Ablative	gynaecēō	gynaecēīs
Vocative	gynaecēum	gynaecēa

References

• “gynaeceum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “gynaeceum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• gynaeceum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)