ETYM French, from coquet, coquette, coquettish, orig., cocklike, strutting like a cock, from coq a cock. Related to Cock, Cocket, Cocky, Cockade.
A seductive woman who uses her sex appeal to exploit men; SYN. flirt, vamp, vamper, minx, tease, prickteaser.

(French “fatal woman”) Woman who brings about the ruin of her lovers; contrasted with the femme fragile, the typical Pre-Raphaelite pale, unearthly woman. The femme fatale was common in Romantic literature; for example, the heroine of the play Salomé by Oscar Wilde and the character of Lulu in Pandora’s Box by Frank Wedekind.