female

The word “female” means a person, animal, or plant of the sex or gender that produces eggs or bears offspring. In plain terms, describes women, female animals, or (in biology and grammar) the egg-producing/receptive side of a pair.

“Female” is pronounced FEE-mayl (/ˈfiː.meɪl/ in IPA).

Here is “female” used in a sentence: “The female of the species is larger than the male.”

The opposite of “female” — its antonyms — is male.

Depending on how it is used, “female” can be a noun and an adjective.

The word “female” comes from Latin.

“Female” is a very common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A2 level.

"Female" is a biological term for any person, animal, or plant of the sex that produces eggs or bears offspring, while "woman" refers specifically to an adult human. Because "female" covers all species and ages, using it as a noun for a woman can sound clinical or dismissive; outside scientific writing, "woman" is usually the better choice.

Grammatically yes — "female" works as both a noun and an adjective. The noun is standard in scientific, medical, and statistical contexts ("the study included 40 females"), but in everyday references to people, "woman" or "girl" is generally preferred.

"Female" describes biological sex — the egg-producing or offspring-bearing sex — while "feminine" describes qualities or styles traditionally associated with women. A person can be female without being feminine, and "feminine" can describe things, such as handwriting or a style of dress, that have no biological sex.

Yes. In botany, "female" applies to plants or flower parts of the sex that bears offspring — the ones that develop seeds or fruit. Some species, such as holly, have separate male and female plants.