female
/ˈfiː.meɪl/ adjective, noun
Forms femaler femalest females
- adjective Belonging to the sex which typically produces eggs (ova), or to the gender which is typically associated with it. “female authors, the leading male and female artists, a female bird cooing at a male”
- adjective Characteristic of this sex/gender. (Compare feminine, womanly.) “stereotypically female pastimes, an insect with typically female coloration”
- adjective Tending to lead to or regulate the development of sexual characteristics typical of this sex. “the female chromosome”
- adjective (of bacteria) Lacking the F factor, and able to receive DNA from another bacterium which does have this factor (a male).
- adjective (figuratively) Having an internal socket, as in a connector or pipe fitting.
- noun An animal of the sex that produces eggs.
- noun A human of feminine gender; a girl or woman.
- noun (botany) A plant which produces only that kind of reproductive organ capable of developing into fruit after impregnation or fertilization; a pistillate plant.
- noun A bacterium which lacks the F factor, and is able to receive DNA from another bacterium which has that factor.
- noun A female connector, pipe fitting, etc.
Synonyms
socket womanly feminine menstruator vagina-owner vagina owner female person distaff
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English female, an alteration of Middle English femele, from Old French femele, femelle (“female”), from Medieval Latin fēmella (“a female”), from Latin fēmella (“a girl, a young female, a young woman”), diminutive of fēmina (“a woman”). The English spelling and pronunciation were remodelled under the influence of male, which is otherwise not etymologically related. Contrast woman, which is etymologically built on man (as in, “person”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun An individual of the sex which conceives and brings forth young, or (in a wider sense) which has an ovary and produces ova. The male and female of each living thing. Drayton.
- noun A plant which produces only that kind of reproductive organs which are capable of developing into fruit after impregnation or fertilization; a pistillate plant.
- adjective Belonging to the sex which conceives and gives birth to young, or (in a wider sense) which produces ova; not male.
- adjective Belonging to an individual of the female sex; characteristic of woman; feminine; as, female tenderness. "Female usurpation.'b8 Milton.
Etymology [OE. femel, femal, F. femelle, fr. L. femella, dim. of femina woman. See Feminine.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “female”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details