womankind; *womenkind.
*”Womenkind” is erroneous, since “-kind” includes all the members of the sex. E.g.:
o “Now she feels she’s pressured about what her roles will say to all of womenkind [read ‘womankind’].” Matthew Gilbert, “Fiorentino Sees ‘Jade’ Role as Reward, Not Selling Out,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 16 Oct. 1995, at D1.
o “In the Neil Labute film, . . . two angry white men decide to avenge every wrong they think womenkind [read ‘womankind’] has inflicted on them by dating the same woman with the intent of emotionally traumatizing her.” Duane Dudek, “Movie Stars Also Fight for Equality,” Milwaukee J. Sentinel, 14 May 1997, at 8.
The analogous error would be *”menkind” for “mankind.”
Language-Change Index — *”womenkind” for “womankind”: Stage 1.
*Invariably inferior form.
For information about the Language-Change Index click here.
Quotation of the Day: “Insistence that etymologically a preposition should be ‘placed before’ is as useful as saying that the lady who is ‘the cynosure of all eyes’ at the ball is etymologically the dog’s tail.” Basil Cottle, The Plight of English 13 (1975).
