# fem
## English
### Etymology

Clipping of feminine

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /fɛm/
* Audio (General Australian):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛm

### Noun

fem (plural fems)
* (LGBTQ, uncommon) Synonym of femme
    Antonym: butch
** 2014, Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy, Madeline D. Davis, Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold: The History of a Lesbian Community, Routledge, →ISBN:Oral history gave them an opportunity to share their vision of the world across generations, while giving us a chance to imagine the pleasure and pain of daily life for butches and fems in an earlier period.
* (colloquial, sometimes derogatory) A feminine or effeminate person.
** 2014, D Shuckerow, Take off your masc: The hegemonic gay male's gender performance on Grindr, quoting someone on Grindr:
    "Versatile, but love to bottom [...] No divas or fems. Not homophobic at all, just my personal preference."
** 2018, Luis Menéndez-Antuña, Thinking Sex with the Great Whore: Deviant Sexualities and Empire in the Book of Revelation, Routledge, →ISBN:[...] chasers looking for silver daddies, exec types for college jocks, straights for gays, fems for mascs, smooths for hairies, huskies for slims, blacks for Latinos, whites for Asians, straights for gays, white collars for blue collars, ...

### Adjective

fem (comparative more fem, superlative most fem)
* (colloquial) Feminine, effeminate.
    Antonym: masc
* (LGBTQ) Synonym of femme
    Antonym: butch
** 2007, Cameron McCarthy, Globalizing Cultural Studies: Ethnographic Interventions in Theory, Method, and Policy, Peter Lang, →ISBN, page 79:Dozens of queers, including female to male/male to female transsexuals, leathers, bears and bisexuals, butch and fem lesbians, […]

### Derived terms

* factfem
* Fem&M's
* femboy (a feminine male)
* fem lib
* Femlock
* FemShep
* femslash
* femspeak
* meanfem
* nicefem
* rudefem

### Anagrams

* EFM, EMF, MEF, emf

## Catalan
### Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin fimum.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈfem]

#### Noun

fem m (plural fems)
* dung
* (chiefly in the plural) manure (animal excrement used as fertilizer)
* (in the plural, especially Balearic) rubbish
    Synonym: escombraries

##### Related terms

* femar
* femejar
* femer
* femta

### Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Alternative forms

* (Balearic) feim (indicative), facem (subjunctive, imperative)

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [ˈfɛm]
* IPA: (Balearic) [ˈfəm]
* IPA: (Valencia) [ˈfem]

#### Verb

fem
* inflection of fer:
** first-person plural present indicative/subjunctive
** first-person plural imperative

### Further reading

* “fem” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “fem”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “fem” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “fem” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Danish
### Etymology

From Old Norse fimm, from Proto-Germanic *fimf, from Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷe (“five”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈfɛmˀ]

### Numeral

fem
* five

## Elfdalian
### Etymology

From Old Norse fimm, from Proto-Germanic *fimf. Cognate with Swedish fem.

### Numeral

fem
* five

## French
### Etymology

Borrowed from English femme, fem (with the rarer spelling borrowed to avoid ambiguity with French femme (“woman”)). English fem is itself from French femme.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /fɛm/

### Noun

fem f (plural fems)
* a femme (feminine queer woman) (contrast butch)
** 2007, Wendy Delorme, Quatrième génération, Bernard Grasset, pages 23–24:Pour faire simple, une fem (prononcer « faime ») c’est une gouine qui n’a rien contre les jupes, les talons hauts, le vernis à ongles et le maquillage. […] On confond parfois les fems avec les lipstick lesbiennes, les charmantes saphiques éthérées comme on en a vu à la fin des années 90 dans les pubs Dior, Benetton et Versace. […] Les fems ont ça de différent des lipstick lesbiennes que notre féminité n’est pas un passe-droit pour d’intégrer, mais au contraire le drapeau de la subversion.(please add an English translation of this quotation)

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology

From Old Norse fimm (“five”), from Proto-Germanic *fimf, ultimately from *pémpe, variant of Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷe.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /fɛm/

### Numeral

fem
* five

#### Derived terms

* femdel
* femdoble
* femkamp
* femkant
* femsifret
* tjuefem

#### Related terms

* femte

### References

* “fem” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Alternative forms

* fæmm (northern dialects)
* fimm (Setesdal dialect)

### Etymology

From Old Norse fimm (“five”).

### Numeral

fem
* five

#### Derived terms

* femmar
* femdel
* femkamp
* femkant
* tjuefem

### References

* “fem” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

## Romansch
### Alternative forms

* fim (Rumantsch Grischun)
* füm (Puter, Vallader)

### Etymology

From Latin fūmus.

### Noun

fem m
* (Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran) smoke

## Swedish
### Etymology

* PIE word
* *pénkʷe
From Old Norse fimm (“five”), from Proto-Germanic *fimf, ultimately from *pémpe, variant of Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷe.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /fɛm/
* Audio:(file)

### Numeral

fem
* five

#### Coordinate terms

| | —0 | —1 | —2 | —3 | —4 | —5 | —6 | —7 | —8 | —9 |
| 0— | noll | ett, en | två | tre | fyra | fem | sex | sju | åtta | nio |
| 1— | tio | elva | tolv | tretton | fjorton | femton | sexton | sjutton | arton | nitton |
| 2— | tjugo | tjugoett, tjugoen | tjugotvå | tjugotre | tjugofyra | tjugofem | tjugosex | tjugosju | tjugoåtta | tjugonio |
| 3— | trettio | trettioett, trettioen | trettiotvå | trettiotre | trettiofyra | trettiofem | trettiosex | trettiosju | trettioåtta | trettionio |
| 4— | fyrtio | fyrtioett, fyrtioen | fyrtiotvå | fyrtiotre | fyrtiofyra | fyrtiofem | fyrtiosex | fyrtiosju | fyrtioåtta | fyrtionio |
| 5— | femtio | femtioett, femtioen | femtiotvå | femtiotre | femtiofyra | femtiofem | femtiosex | femtiosju | femtioåtta | femtionio |
| 6— | sextio | sextioett, sextioen | sextiotvå | sextiotre | sextiofyra | sextiofem | sextiosex | sextiosju | sextioåtta | sextionio |
| 7— | sjuttio | sjuttioett, sjuttioen | sjuttiotvå | sjuttiotre | sjuttiofyra | sjuttiofem | sjuttiosex | sjuttiosju | sjuttioåtta | sjuttionio |
| 8— | åttio | åttioett, åttioen | åttiotvå | åttiotre | åttiofyra | åttiofem | åttiosex | åttiosju | åttioåtta | åttionio |
| 9— | nittio | nittioett, nittioen | nittiotvå | åttiotre | nittiofyra | nittiofem | nittiosex | nittiosju | nittioåtta | nittionio |
* 100: hundra
* 10$^3$: tusen
* 10$^4$: tiotusen (myriad)
* 10$^6$: miljon
* 10$^9$: miljard
* 10$^{12}$: biljon
* 10$^{15}$: biljard
* 10$^{18}$: triljon
* 10$^{21}$: triljard
* 10$^{24}$: kvadriljon
* 10$^{27}$: kvadriljard
* 10$^{30}$: kvintiljon
* 10$^{33}$: kvintiljard
* 10$^{36}$: sextiljon
* 10$^{39}$: sextiljard
* 10$^{42}$: septiljon
* 10$^{45}$: septiljard
* 10$^{48}$: oktiljon
* 10$^{51}$: oktiljard
* 10$^{54}$: noniljon
* 10$^{57}$: noniljard
* 10$^{60}$: deciljon
* 10$^{63}$: deciljard
* 10$^{66}$: undeciljon
* 10$^{69}$: undeciljard
* 10$^{72}$: duodeciljon
* 10$^{75}$: duodeciljard
* 10$^{78}$: tredeciljon
* 10$^{81}$: tredeciljard
* 10$^{84}$: quattuordeciljon
* 10$^{87}$: quattuordeciljard
* 10$^{100}$: googol
* 10$^{120}$: vigintiljon
* 10$^{123}$: vigintiljard

#### Related terms

* femaktare
* femaktsdrama
* fembarnsfamilj
* femcylindrig
* femdagarsvecka
* femdraget
* femdubbel
* femdubbla
* femdubbling
* femdygnsperiod
* femdygnsprognos
* femdörrarsbil
* femetta
* femfaldig
* femfemma
* femfilig
* femfingerört
* femfotad
* femgradig
* femhundra
* femhundrade
* femhundralapp
* femhundratalet
* femhundring
* femhörning
* femkamp
* femkampare
* femkant
* femkantig
* femkort
* femkrona
* femkronorsmynt
* femkronorssedel
* femling
* femma
* femmastad
* femmil
* femmilslopp
* femminutersperiod
* femmänning
* femprocentig
* femroddare
* femrummare
* femrums
* femrumslägenhet
* femsetare
* femsetsmatch
* femsiffrig
* femsitsig
* femsnåret
* femspaltig
* femstjärnig
* femsträngad
* femstämmig
* femte
* femtedel
* femteklassare
* femtekolonn
* femteplats
* femti
* femtiden
* femtio
* femton
* femtusen
* femtusende
* femtåig
* femudd
* femuddig
* femudding
* femvåningshus
* femväxlad
* femårig
* femåring
* femårsjubileum
* femårsperiod
* femårsplan
* femårsåldern
* femöring

#### See also

* noll, ett, två, tre, fyra, fem, sex, sju, åtta, nio, tio, elva, tolv

### References

* fem in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* fem in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* fem in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

## Volapük
### Etymology

Borrowed from English fermentation.

### Noun

fem (nominative plural fems)
* fermentation

#### Declension

$^1$ status as a case is disputed $^2$ in later, non-classical Volapük only