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female

fe·male

UK/ˈfiː.meɪl/ US/ˈfiˌmeɪl/ common
noun (2) adjective (3)

noun

1.

an animal that produces gametes (ova) that can be fertilized by male gametes (spermatozoa)

Antonyms
2.

a person who belongs to the sex that can have babies

Synonyms
Antonyms

adjective

1.

being the sex (of plant or animal) that produces fertilizable gametes (ova) from which offspring develop

  • “a female heir”
  • “female holly trees bear the berries”
Antonyms
Similar
2.

characteristic of or peculiar to a woman

  • “female sensitiveness”
  • “female suffrage”
Synonyms
Similar
3.

for or composed of women or girls

  • “the female lead in the play”
  • “a female chorus”
Similar

Origin

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”).

Phrases

  • gender identity
  • the feminine grammatical gender Feminine; of the feminine grammatical gender.

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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See also

Part of

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.