Grammatical gender

"Gender has the same root as genre and genus, so, in a grammatical context, refers to the category [or class] of a noun. . . .  English speakers, accustomed to a mother tongue without such noun classifications, may find it difficult to divorce the idea of [grammatical] gender from concepts of male/female, let alone avoid the temptation to find significance in a word's gender.  But many nouns belong to a gender category at complete variance with their meaning:  the Spanish word for masculinity (la masculinidad) is feminine because -idad is a feminine ending.  In contrast, el feminismo (feminism) is masculine because -ismo is a masculine ending.  Nor is it only in Romance languages where such discrepancies occur; like its Spanish and French counterparts, the German word for 'manliness' (die Mannlichkeit) is feminine."

     While the German word for feminism (Feminismus), I would add, is masculine, and the Latin word for manhood or masculinity (virilitas), feminine.  Etc.  Rory McDowall Clark, "Masculine and feminine," letter to the editor, Times literary supplement no. 6371 (May 9, 2025), 6.  More profoundly, though, perhaps, why is -idad "feminine," and -ismo "masculine"?  Etc.