žena

See also: Appendix:Variations of "zena"

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʒɛna]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: že‧na
• Rhymes: -ɛna

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Czech žena, from Proto-Slavic *žena, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *génāˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷḗn.

Noun

žena f (relational adjective ženský, diminutive žínka or ženička or (dated) ženka)

1. woman

   Antonym: muž

2. wife

   Synonyms: manželka, choť

   Antonyms: manžel, muž

Declension

Declension of žena (hard feminine)

	singular	plural
nominative	žena	ženy
genitive	ženy	žen
dative	ženě	ženám
accusative	ženu	ženy
vocative	ženo	ženy
locative	ženě	ženách
instrumental	ženou	ženami

Derived terms

adjectives

• zženštilý
• ženatý

nouns

• divoženka
• ženačka
• ženáč
• ženství
• ženstvo
• ženština
• ženulinka
• ženuška
• žínka

verbs

• oženit
• vyženit
• zženštět
• zženštit
• ženit

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

žena

1. masculine singular present transgressive of hnát

Further reading

• “žena”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “žena”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “žena”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Old Czech

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *žena, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *génāˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷḗn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (13^th CE) /ˈʒɛna/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ˈʒɛna/

Noun

žena f

1. woman
2. wife

Declension

Declension of žena (hard a-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	žena	ženě	ženy
genitive	ženy	ženú	žen
dative	ženě	ženama	ženám
accusative	ženu	ženě	ženy
vocative	ženo	ženě	ženy
locative	ženě	ženú	ženách
instrumental	ženú	ženama	ženami

This table shows the most common forms around the 13th century.

Descendants

• Czech: žena

Further reading

• Jan Gebauer (1903–1916), “žena”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

Old Slovak

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *žena. First attested in 1460.

Noun

žena f

1. woman (adult female human)
2. wife (female married partner)

Descendants

• Pannonian Rusyn: жена (žena)
• Slovak: žena

Further reading

• Majtán, Milan et al., editors (1991–2008), “žena”, in Historický slovník slovenského jazyka [Historical Dictionary of the Slovak Language] (in Slovak), volumes 1–7 (A – Ž), Bratislava: VEDA, →OCLC

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *žena, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *génāˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷḗn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒěna/

• Hyphenation: že‧na

Noun

žèna f (Cyrillic spelling жѐна, relational adjective žènskī, diminutive žènica)

1. woman

   Zgodna žena ― Pretty Woman

   Žena bez imena ― Woman without a Name (song by Vlado Georgiev)

   Ko mrzi mačke, mrzi i žene. ― He who hates cats, hates women too.

   Žena od koje se razvodiš nije žena kojom si se oženio. ― The woman you divorce is not the woman you married.

   Žene se udaju nadajući se da će se muškarac prom(ij)eniti, a muškarci se žene misleći da žena neće. ― Women marry men hoping they will change, and men marry women thinking they won't.

2. wife

   Dobru lubenicu i dobru ženu ne možeš izabrati, samo potrefiti. ― A good watermelon and a good wife can never be chosen, only guessed. (proverb)

   Medicina mi je zakonita žena, a književnost ljubavnica. ― Medicine is my lawful wife, and literature is my mistress. (quote by Anton Chekhov)

   Armani oblači žene, a Versaće ljubavnice. ― Armani dresses the wife, Versace dresses the mistress. (quote by Anna Wintour)

Declension

Declension of žena

	singular	plural
nominative	žèna	žène
genitive	žènē	žénā
dative	žèni	žènama
accusative	žènu	žène
vocative	žȅno	žȅne
locative	žèni	žènama
instrumental	žènōm	žènama

Derived terms

• žèniti

Further reading

• “žena”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026

Slavomolisano

Etymology

Inherited from Serbo-Croatian žèna, from Proto-Slavic *žena, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *génāˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷḗn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒěːnḁ/

Noun

žena f

1. woman

Declension

Declension of žena (series-2b fem)

	singular	plural
nominative	žena	žene
genitive	žene	žen, ženi
dative	ženu	ženami, ženi
accusative	ženu	žene
locative	ženu	žene
instrumental	ženom	ženami, ženi

References

• Walter Breu and Giovanni Piccoli (2000), Dizionario croato molisano di Acquaviva Collecroce: Dizionario plurilingue della lingua slava della minoranza di provenienza dalmata di Acquaviva Collecroce in Provincia di Campobasso (Parte grammaticale).

Slovak

Etymology

Inherited from Old Slovak žena, from Proto-Slavic *žena.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒena/, [ˈʒena]
• Rhymes: -ena
• Hyphenation: že‧na

• Audio (Bratislava):

  (file)

Noun

žena f (relational adjective ženský)

1. woman
2. wife

Declension

Declension of žena
(pattern žena)

	singular	plural
nominative	žena	ženy
genitive	ženy	žien
dative	žene	ženám
accusative	ženu	ženy
locative	žene	ženách
instrumental	ženou	ženami

Related terms

• oženiť
• oženiť sa
• ženatý
• ženská f
• ženskosť, ženstvo
• žensky

Further reading

• “žena”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2026

Slovene

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *žena, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *génāˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷḗn. First attested in the 14th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒɛ̀ːna/

Noun

žéna f

1. wife

Declension

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Feminine, a-stem
nom. sing.	žêna
gen. sing.	žêne
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	žêna	žêni	žêne
genitive (rodȋlnik)	žêne	žên	žên
dative (dajȃlnik)	žêni	žênama	žênam
accusative (tožȋlnik)	žêno	žêni	žêne
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	žêni	žênah	žênah
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	žêno	žênama	žênami

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Feminine, a-stem, long mixed accent
nom. sing.	žêna
gen. sing.	žené
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	žêna	žené	žené
genitive (rodȋlnik)	žené	žená	žená
dative (dajȃlnik)	žêni	ženáma	ženàm
accusative (tožȋlnik)	ženó	žené	žené
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	žêni	ženàh	ženàh
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	ženó	ženáma	ženámi

See also

• móž
• ženska
• žalik žena

Further reading

• “žena”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
• “žena”, in Termania, Amebis
• See also the general references