noun
female
FEE-mayl
noun
1
A person, animal, or plant of the sex or gender that produces eggs or bears offspring.
"The female of the species is larger than the male."
adj
1
Relating to or being female.
"The clinic offers female health screenings on Tuesdays."
How to Use Female
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishDescribes women, female animals, or (in biology and grammar) the egg-producing/receptive side of a pair.
When to use it
In everyday speech about people, "woman/women" or "girl" usually sounds more natural than "female" as a noun, which can read as clinical or blunt.
Easily confused with
Word Forms
females plural
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The _____ of the species is larger than the male.
Etymology
From Old French femelle, from Latin femella ("young woman"), a diminutive of femina ("woman"). Its modern spelling was reshaped in English under the influence of "male," even though the two words aren't actually related.