When did ‘Woman’ become an Adjective?

So, when did the word "woman" become an adjective?

I realize that language develops over time, and not always for the better, but shouldn't certain basic grammar rules hold? Also, I understand that nowadays the word "woman" is so complex and indecipherable that even Supreme Court justices can struggle to decipher it. So maybe I should not give the AP too much grief for writing the headline:

Abigail Spanberger sworn in as Virginia’s first woman governor

However I have noticed the words woman and women frequently used elsewhere as an adjective. Perhaps the word female has gone the way of the word "whom" to likely extinction. Other words that seem to be in decline or dead today are the following: actress, heroine, lady, and wife (now partner being heavily used). It seems like the language around women (oops! I used it as a noun, my bad.) has changed quite a bit in the past 5-10 years.

I'm not a grammar nazi, but I do think we should have certain standards for language in the USA, especially for those who write for a living (such as the media). Specifics in language help bring clarity and understanding. However, in the age of euphemism and tortured, warped language, this appears to be far from the goal of modern American English.

I don't mean to scapegoat the misuse of "woman." Oh, wait, I just misused the word "scapegoat," which has now become ubiquitous with the explosion of fraud scandal stories. Tim Walz really likes to abuse the word scapegoat in press conferences. But there are probably plenty of other language quirks and misuses that muddy the understanding of words and phrases that might come to the mind of the reader. Perhaps newly minted Abigail Spanberger could offer a few.