Meaning

noun the main good female character in a work of fiction

noun a woman possessing heroic qualities or a woman who has performed heroic deeds

originFrom 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.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0