female

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Belonging to the sex that can produce eggs or give birth.

   A female bird was cooing at a male nearby.

2. 2
   adj

   Relating to or made up of women or girls.

   She played the female lead in the play.

3. 3
   adj

   Typical of or characteristic of women.

   The survey looked at stereotypically female pastimes.

Etymology tree 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…

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