Female meaning

fēmāl
females
See word origin
Frequency:
A female organism.
noun
13
1
One of the female (feminine) sex or gender.
  • A human member of the feminine sex or gender.
  • An animal of the sex that produces eggs.
  • (botany) A plant which produces only that kind of reproductive organ capable of developing into fruit after impregnation or fertilization; a pistillate plant.
noun
8
0
The definition of female is something related to the sex that produces an egg and that can bear children, or the part of a machine, tool or fitting that is hollow so that the male end of the tool can be inserted.

Dresses are an example of something that would be described as female clothing.

The threaded opening that the protruding male end of a hose sticks into is an example of the female end of the hose.

adjective
8
2
A woman or girl.
noun
7
2
A female is defined as a person of the sex that produces eggs and can bear young.

Julia Roberts is an example of a female.

noun
5
3
Advertisement
Of or denoting the gamete that is larger and less motile than the other corresponding gamete. Used of anisogamous organisms.
adjective
4
0
(grammar, less common than 'feminine') Feminine; of the feminine grammatical gender.
adjective
4
2
(figuratively) Having an internal socket, as in a connector or pipe fitting.
adjective
3
0
Of, characteristic of, or suitable to members of this sex; feminine.
adjective
2
0
Designating or of the sex that produces ova and bears offspring.
adjective
2
1
Advertisement
Consisting of women or girls.
adjective
0
0
Designating or having a hollow part shaped to receive a corresponding inserted part (called male)
adjective
0
0
A female person; woman or girl.
noun
0
0
A female animal or plant.
noun
0
0
Relating to or denoting the gamete that is larger and less motile than the other corresponding gamete. Used of anisogamous organisms.
adjective
0
0
Advertisement
A female organism.
noun
0
0
A woman or girl.
noun
0
0
In organisms that reproduce sexually, being the gamete that is larger and less motile than the other corresponding gamete (the male gamete) of the same species. The egg cells of higher animals and plants are female gametes.
adjective
0
0
Possessing or being a structure that produces only female gametes. The ovaries of humans are female reproductive organs. Female flowers possess only carpels and no stamens.
adjective
0
0
Having the genitalia or other structures typical of a female organism. Worker ants are female but sterile.
adjective
0
0
Advertisement
A female organism.
noun
0
0
Belonging to the sex which typically produces eggs, which in humans and most other mammals is typically the one which has XX chromosomes; belonging to the sex which has larger gametes (for species which have two sexes and for which this distinction can be made).
adjective
0
0
Belonging to the feminine (social) gender; identifying one's gender as feminine (see gender identity).
adjective
0
0
Designed to receive or fit around a complementary male part, as a slot or receptacle.

The female end of an extension cord.

adjective
0
1

Origin of female

  • Middle English alteration (influenced by male male) of femelle from Old French from Latin fēmella diminutive of fēmina woman dhē(i)- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Old French femele, from Medieval Latin femella (“a female”), from Latin femella (“a young female, a girl”), diminutive of femina (“a woman”). The English spelling was remodelled under the influence of male, which is not etymologically related. Compare man and woman.

    From Wiktionary