From Middle English woman, from earlier wimman, wifman. The Middle English forms are from Old English wiman, wimman, from wīfmann m (“woman; female servant”, li

From Middle English woman, from earlier wimman, wifman. The Middle English forms are from Old English wiman, wimman, from wīfmann m (“woman; female servant”, literally “female person”), a compound of wīf (“woman”, whence English wife) +‎ mann (“person”, whence English man). For details on the pronunciation and spelling history, see the usage notes below. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/woman#Etymology https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/woman#Etymology