Feminine compounds ending in
-woman are equivalent to the masculine compounds in
-man. When the person referred to is a woman, the feminine form is often, but not always, used:
alderman, alderwoman; assemblyman, assemblywoman; chairman, chairwoman; congressman, congresswoman; spokesman, spokeswoman; businessman, businesswoman. However, some forms ending in
-man are applied to women, and occasionally terms in
-man are specified by legal code:
Alderman Dorothy Lavelle. In general, the practice in current edited written English is to avoid the
-man form in reference to a woman or the plural
-men when members of both sexes are involved. Instead, a sex-neutral term is used:
council members rather than
councilmen and
councilwomen; representative or
legislator rather than
congressman or
congresswoman. See also
chairperson,
-man,
-person.