female

Wikipedia

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA: /ˈfiː.meɪl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

female (not comparable)

1. Belonging or referring to the sex which is generally characterized as the one associated with the larger gametes (for species which have two sexes and for which this distinction can be made), which in humans and many other species is the sex which produces eggs and which has XX chromosomes.
2. (figuratively, electronics) Having an internal socket, as in a connector or pipe fitting.

Synonyms

• feminine
• (figuratively): socket

Coordinate terms

• intersex
• transgender
• male
• neuter

Derived terms

• female-assigned, cisfemale, transfemale

Translations

belonging to the sex with larger, fertilizable gametes

• Arabic: أنْثَى (’únθa)

  Egyptian Arabic: أنثى (onθa or onsa) f, (not human) نتاية (netaya) f

• Armenian: իգական (hy) (igakan)
• Basque: eme
• Bulgarian: женски (bg) (žénski) m, женска (bg) (žénska) f
• Catalan: femení m, femenina f
• Central Melanau: mahou
• Cherokee: ᎠᎨᏴ (ageyv)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (of humans) 女 (cmn) (nǚ), (of some animals) 母 (cmn) (mǔ), (of some animals and plants) 雌 (cmn) (cí)

• Czech: samičí (cs) (of non-human animals and plants), ženský (cs) (of humans)
• Dalmatian: femia f
• Danish: hun- (da) or hunlig (da) (of plants and animals); kvindelig (da) (of humans) (1,2 & 3)
• Dutch: vrouwelijk (nl)
• Esperanto: ina (eo)
• Finnish: naispuolinen (fi), nais- (fi)
• French: (animal) femelle (fr) m and f, (human) féminin (fr)
• Galician: femia (gl) f
• German: weiblich (de)
• Gothic: 𐌵𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌳𐍃 (qinakunds)
• Greek: θηλυκός (el) (thilykós) m
• Guaraní: kuña
• Hebrew: נקבה (nekeva) (2), נשי (nashi) (1)
• Hungarian: nőstény (hu)
• Ido: -in

• Indonesian: (of humans) perempuan (id), (of animals and plants) betina (id)
• Interlingua: femina (attributive) (1); feminin (1,2)
• Italian: femminile (it)
• Japanese: 雌 (めす, mesu)
• Kimaragang: (of animals and plants) tongondu
• Korean: 여성 (yeoseong)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: مێ (ku)

• Latin: femineus
• Latvian: sieviešu dzimtes- (lv)
• Lithuanian: moteriškas (lt)
• Malay:

  Rumi: (of humans) perempuan (ms), (of animals and plants) betina (ms)

  Jawi: (of humans) ڤرمڤوان (ms), (of animals and plants) بتينا (ms)

• Maori: uha (mi) (of animals), uwha (mi) (of animals)
• Norwegian: kvinnelig (no), hunn- (no)
• Novial: femal
• Polish: płci żeńskiej, samica f, samiczy, kobiecy m, -a f, -e n
• Portuguese: fêmea f (1,3); feminino m (1,2)
• Russian: женский (ru) (žénskij)
• Scottish Gaelic: boireannach n, banail f
• Serbian: женка, ženka
• Spanish: femenino (es) m, hembra (es)
• Swahili: kike (sw), jike (sw)
• Tagal Murut: (of birds) lupoh, (of birds) puunan
• Telugu: ఆడ (aaDa)
• Tupinambá: kunhã
• Turkish: dişi (tr)
• Volapük: vomik (vo), jimenik (vo)

having an internal socket

• Bulgarian: женски (bg) (ženski)
• French: femelle (fr) m and f
• Greek: θηλυκός (el) (thilykós) m
• Korean: 암형 (ko) (amhyeong)

• Norwegian: hunn- (no)
• Swahili: jike (sw)
• Turkish: dişi (tr)

Noun

female (plural females)

1. Someone or something of feminine sex or gender.
2. botany A plant which produces only that kind of reproductive organ capable of developing into fruit after impregnation or fertilization; a pistillate plant.

Synonyms

• girl; see also Wikisaurus:girl
• woman; see also Wikisaurus:woman

Translations

an individual belonging to the sex that can give birth

• Albanian:

  Tosk: femër (sq)

  Gheg: femën f

• Arabic: أنثى (’únθā) f, إناث (ar) (ináth) pl

  Egyptian Arabic: أنثى (onθa or onsa) f, (not human) نتاية (netaya) f

• Armenian: էգ (ēg)
• Basque: eme (eu)
• Bulgarian: женска (žénska) f
• Catalan: femella (ca) f
• Chamicuro: molota
• Cherokee: ᎠᎨᏴ (chr) (ageyv)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 雌性 (cmn) (cíxìng), 陰性 (cmn), 阴性 (cmn) (yīnxìng), (human) 女性 (cmn) (nǚxìng)

• Croatian: ženkaf (2)
• Czech: žena f (person), samice f (animal)
• Danish: kvinde (da) c
• Dutch: vrouw (nl) c
• Esperanto: ino (eo)
• Finnish: naaras (2)
• French: femelle (fr) f
• Galician: femia (gl) f
• German: Weibchen (de) n (2)
• Gothic: 𐌵𐌹𐌽𐌴𐌹𐌽 (qinein) f
• Greek: (formal) θήλυ (el) (thíly) n, θηλυκό (el) (thilykó) n
• Gujarati: સ્ત્રી (gu)
• Hungarian: nőstény (2)
• Ido: femino
• Indonesian: (of humans) perempuan (id), (of animals and plants) betina (id)

• Interlingua: femina
• Italian: femmina (it) f
• Japanese: 女性 (ja) (じょせい, josei), (animal) 雌 (ja) (めす, mesu)
• Kannada: ಸ್ತ್ರೀ (kn)
• Korean: 여성 (yeoseong)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: مێ (ku)

• Latin: fēmina (la) f
• Latvian: sieviete (lv) f, (animal) mātīte (lv) f
• Lithuanian: moteris (lt) f, moteriškė (lt) f, (animal) patelė (lt) f
• Low German: Seken (nds) n
• Malay:

  Rumi: (of humans) perempuan (ms), (of animals and plants) betina (ms)

  Jawi: (of humans) ڤرمڤوان (ms), (of animals and plants) بتينا (ms)

• Norwegian: kvinne (no)
• Novial: femala
• Persian: زن (zan), دختر (dokhtar)
• Polish: samica f (insulting if used to describe a woman), kobieta f
• Portuguese: fêmea (pt) f
• Russian: самка (ru) (sámka) f, (human) женщина (ru) (žénščina) f
• Santali: ᱮᱝᱜᱚ (engga)
• Scottish Gaelic: boireannach m, bean f, tè f
• Slovene: ženska f, samica f (with animals)
• Spanish: hembra (es) f
• Tupinambá: kunhã
• Turkish: dişi (tr), bayan (tr)
• Volapük: (human) vom (vo), (human) jimen (vo), (animal) jinim (vo), (plant) jiplan (vo)
• Welsh: benywaidd (cy)
• ǃXóõ: qáe

See also

• ♀ (Symbol for female)
• Female on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

References

• "Female" in Michael Quinion, Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds, 2004.