female
Part of speech: adj
noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: biology
botany
natural-sciences
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)-der.
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-éh₂
Proto-Italic *θēmanā
Proto-Italic *fēmanā
Latin fēmina
Proto-Indo-European *-lós
Proto-Indo-European *-elós
Proto-Italic *-elos
Latin -lus
Latin fēmella
Old French femelebor.
Middle English femele
Middle English female
English female
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”).
Inflected forms:
form: femaler
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: more female
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: femalest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: most female
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: females
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: Belonging to the sex which typically produces eggs (ova), or to the gender which is typically associated with it.
pos: adj
tags: not-comparable
usually
examples: female authors, the leading male and female artists, a female bird cooing at a male
Twice in her thirty-year career she held office in the blacksmiths' guild. Ms. [Fya] upper Bach was no fluke, either: legal and guild records from medieval Germany list other female blacksmiths, coppersmiths, tinsmiths, and pewterers. Some of these redoubtable women gained entry into the guild through "widow's rights"; others, however, made it on sheer mettle and muscle.
I turned to [gender-fluid] Alex. "Hey, are you female today? [...] The Skofnung Sword [...] can't be drawn in the presence of women."
Some mentioned factional tensions and bullying within the party involving other female MSPs.
gloss: Characteristic of this sex/gender. (Compare feminine, womanly.)
pos: adj
tags: not-comparable
usually
examples: stereotypically female pastimes, an insect with typically female coloration
A travelling shot of a harbour view near Sydney's White Bay moves into a domestic interior as a female voice says, 'There was nowhere else to live except alone.'
More than that, we cannot find the same dynamics within female career trajectories as in the other two country groups, because the time-structure of female and male careers already shows great similarity within the older generation of elites. In addition, the pattern of the relation between female and male careers remains the same over time.
gloss: Tending to lead to or regulate the development of sexual characteristics typical of this sex.
pos: adj
tags: not-comparable
usually
examples: the female chromosome
estrogen, the primary female sex hormone, is produced by both females and males
gloss: Lacking the F factor, and able to receive DNA from another bacterium which does have this factor (a male).
pos: adj
tags: not-comparable
usually
examples: In this process, one bacterium designated the male bacterium transfers its DNA into the female bacterium. Bacteria are determined to be male or female by a small piece of DNA, called F-plasmid, or sex factor. Bacteria with this small piece of DNA are labeled as males, and bacteria that do not have this factor are considered females.
gloss: Having an internal socket, as in a connector or pipe fitting.
pos: adj
tags: figuratively
not-comparable
usually
examples: A ground-joint union is made in three separate pieces and is used for joining two pipes. It consists of two machined pieces with female pipe threads, which are screwed on the pipes to be united, and a threaded collar which holds the two pieces of the union together.
gloss: One of the female (feminine) sex or gender.
pos: noun
examples: Accumulated data indicate that in all species of sharks, the females grow larger than the males.
gloss: One of the female (feminine) sex or gender.
pos: noun
examples: It would be years sometimes ere he saw the face of a female, and when he did, that face would not be overangelic.
XY female patients with gonadal dysgenesis are sometimes referred to as “XY sex-reversed” patients or individuals with “XY sex reversal” (Simpson and Martin, 1981). Although widely used, this terminology is somewhat vague as it does not distinguish XY females with gonadal dysgenesis from XY females with androgen resistance.
gloss: One of the female (feminine) sex or gender.
pos: noun
gloss: A bacterium which lacks the F factor, and is able to receive DNA from another bacterium which has that factor.
pos: noun
examples: During mating, F+ male bacteria transfer the F factor to the recipient females, transforming them into F+ males.
gloss: A female connector, pipe fitting, etc.
pos: noun
examples: These are the most common type, as they join females of the same diameter together. […] For example, you may need an adapter such as a 3-in. pipe thread (a common thread used to join pipes) female to 2 1⁄2 NH male.
Synonyms: womanly
feminine
female
menstruator
vagina-owner
vagina owner
Antonyms: male
Related words: ♀
sex
gender
gender identity
Translations:
lang: Gheg Albanian
word: femën
lang: Southern Altai
word: тижи
roman: tiži
lang: Arabic
word: أُنْثَى
roman: ʔunṯā
lang: Arabic
word: أنثى
roman: onsa
lang: Arabic
word: نتاية
roman: netaya
lang: Arabic
word: نتوة
roman: natwa
lang: Aramaic
word: ܢܩܒܬܐ
roman: neqbəṯā
lang: Armenian
word: էգ
roman: ēg
lang: Asturian
word: fema
lang: Avar
word: цӏуяб
roman: cʼujab
lang: Azerbaijani
word: dişi
lang: Basque
word: eme
lang: Belarusian
word: жанчы́на
roman: žančýna
lang: Belarusian
word: са́мка
roman: sámka
lang: Belarusian
word: самі́ца
roman: samíca
lang: Bulgarian
word: же́нска
roman: žénska
lang: Bulgarian
word: са́мка
roman: sámka
lang: Burmese
word: နာရီ
roman: nari
lang: Burmese
word: မ
roman: ma.
lang: Burmese
word: မိန်းမ
roman: min:ma.
lang: Carpathian Rusyn
word: самі́ця
roman: samícja
lang: Carpathian Rusyn
word: жена́
roman: žená
lang: Catalan
word: femella
lang: Chamicuro
word: molota
lang: Chechen
word: сте
roman: ste
lang: Cherokee
word: ᎠᎨᏴ
roman: ageyv
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 女性
roman: nǚxìng
lang: Czech
word: žena
lang: Czech
word: samice
lang: Danish
word: kvinde
lang: Dutch
word: vrouw
lang: Esperanto
word: ino
lang: Estonian
word: emane
lang: Finnish
word: naaras
lang: Finnish
word: nainen
lang: Finnish
word: tyttö
lang: French
word: femelle
lang: Galician
word: femia
lang: Georgian
word: ქალი
roman: kali
lang: German
word: Weib
lang: German
word: Weibchen
lang: Gothic
word: 𐌵𐌹𐌽𐌴𐌹𐌽
roman: qinein
lang: Greek
word: θήλυ
roman: thíly
lang: Greek
word: θηλυκό
roman: thilykó
lang: Gujarati
word: સ્ત્રી
roman: strī
lang: Hebrew
word: נקבה \ נְקֵבָה
roman: nekevá
lang: Hindi
word: मादा
roman: mādā
lang: Hindi
word: स्त्री
roman: strī
lang: Hungarian
word: nőstény
lang: Ido
word: femino
lang: Indonesian
word: perempuan
lang: Indonesian
word: betina
lang: Ingrian
word: nain
lang: Ingush
word: се
roman: se
lang: Interlingua
word: femina
lang: Irish
word: baineannach
lang: Istriot
word: fimana
lang: Italian
word: femmina
lang: Japanese
word: 女性
roman: josei
lang: Japanese
word: 雌
roman: mesu
lang: Javanese
word: wanita
lang: Kannada
word: ಸ್ತ್ರೀ
roman: strī
lang: Kashubian
word: samica
lang: Kazakh
word: ұрғашы
roman: ūrğaşy
lang: Khmer
word: ស្រី
roman: srəy
lang: Khmer
word: ញី
roman: ñii
lang: Korean
word: 여성
roman: yeoseong
lang: Korean
word: 암컷
roman: amkeot
lang: Kumyk
word: тиши
roman: tişi
lang: Central Kurdish
word: مێ
roman: mê
lang: Kyrgyz
word: ургаачы
roman: urgaacı
lang: Lao
word: ຍິງ
roman: nying
lang: Lao
word: ຜູ້ຍິງ
roman: phū nying
lang: Lao
word: ຕົວເມັຽ
roman: tūa mīa
lang: Latin
word: fēmina
lang: Latvian
word: sieviete
lang: Latvian
word: mātīte
lang: Lithuanian
word: moteris
lang: Lithuanian
word: moteriškė
lang: Lithuanian
word: patelė
lang: Low German
word: Seken
lang: Malay
word: ڤرمڤوان
lang: Malay
word: بتينا
lang: Malay
word: perempuan
lang: Malay
word: betina
lang: Manx
word: bwoirrinagh
lang: Māori
word: wahine
lang: Marathi
word: स्त्री
roman: strī
lang: Middle English
word: femele
lang: Navajo
word: aʼáád
lang: Navajo
word: tsaʼii
lang: Navajo
word: biʼáadii
lang: Norwegian
word: kvinne
lang: Occitan
word: femèla
lang: Odia
word: ନାରୀ
roman: nāri
lang: Persian
word: زن
roman: zan
lang: Persian
word: دختر
roman: doxtar
lang: Persian
word: ماده
roman: mâde
lang: Polish
word: samica
lang: Polish
word: kobieta
lang: Portuguese
word: fêmea
lang: Romanian
word: femelă
lang: Russian
word: са́мка
roman: sámka
lang: Russian
word: же́нщина
roman: žénščina
lang: Santali
word: ᱮᱝᱜᱚ
roman: eṅgô
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: boireannach
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: bean
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: tè
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: женка
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: ženka
lang: Sinhalese
word: ස්ත්රී
roman: strī
lang: Slovak
word: žena
lang: Slovak
word: samica
lang: Slovene
word: ženska
lang: Slovene
word: samica
lang: Spanish
word: hembra
lang: Spanish
word: fembra (disused)
lang: Spanish
word: fémina
lang: Swahili
word: jike
lang: Swedish
word: kvinna
lang: Tajik
word: зан
roman: zan
lang: Tajik
word: мода
roman: moda
lang: Thai
word: หญิง
roman: yǐng
lang: Thai
word: ผู้หญิง
roman: pûu-yǐng
lang: Thai
word: ตัวเมีย
roman: dtuua-miia
lang: Tupinambá
word: kunhã
lang: Turkish
word: dişi
lang: Turkish
word: bayan
lang: Ottoman Turkish
word: دیشی
roman: dişi
lang: Turkmen
word: aýaal
lang: Turkmen
word: urkaçy
lang: Ukrainian
word: жі́нка
roman: žínka
lang: Ukrainian
word: сами́ця
roman: samýcja
lang: Ukrainian
word: са́мка
roman: sámka
lang: Urdu
word: عَورَت
roman: 'aurat
lang: Urdu
word: خاتُون
roman: xātūn
lang: Urdu
word: خَوَاتِین
roman: xavātīn
lang: Urdu
word: رَن
roman: ran
lang: Urdu
word: مادہ
roman: māda
lang: Uyghur
word: چىشى
roman: chishi
lang: Uzbek
word: ayol
lang: Uzbek
word: urgʻochi
lang: Venetan
word: fémena
lang: Vietnamese
word: nữ
lang: Vietnamese
word: cái
lang: Volapük
word: vom
lang: Volapük
word: jimen
lang: Walloon
word: frumele
lang: Welsh
word: benyw
lang: Yiddish
word: אישה
roman: ishe
lang: ǃXóõ
word: qáe