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.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Female came into Middle English through Old French femelle from Latin femella, a diminutive of femina “woman.” Its spelling was later altered to resemble male, although male has a different origin in Latin masculus, from mas “a male person.” Feminine also derives from femina.

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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