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Heroine
Definitions
- 1 Characteristic of a heroine; heroic. not-comparable, rare
"Theoxena to free hir Siſters children and hir owne from the laſciuious embraces of King Phillip, put weapons into their weaker hands, and perſwaded them Vt imminens ludibrium morte effugerent; to reſcue themſelues by Death from imminent diſgrace, wherein ſhe had no ſooner preuailed, but with a heroine reſolution ſhe ſhewed them by hir owne example, that what ſhee had taught them, was eaſie to be done."
- 1 A female hero.
- 2 Dated form of heroin. alt-of, dated, uncountable
"[…] 1,451 ounces of heroine hydrochloride, and 19 ounces of codeine — the equivalent of 16,273 pounds of opium."
- 3 the main good female character in a work of fiction wordnet
- 4 A female lead character.
"Miss Phyllis Morgan, as the hapless heroine dressed in the shabbiest of clothes, appears in the midst of a gay and giddy throng; she apostrophises all and sundry there, including the villain, and has a magnificent scene which always brings down the house, and nightly adds to her histrionic laurels."
- 5 a woman possessing heroic qualities or a woman who has performed heroic deeds wordnet
Etymology
From Latin hērōīna, from late Ancient Greek ἡρωΐνη (hērōḯnē) (2nd century), a feminine equivalent of ἥρως (hḗrōs, “hero, demigod”), equivalent to hero + -ine (suffix forming feminine nouns). * English from 1587. The sense of "female lead character" is from 1715.
Partly from the noun and partly from hero + -ine (suffix forming adjectives).
See also for "heroine"
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