female

/ˈfiː.meɪl/

female adjective: belonging to the sex which typically produces eggs (ova), or to the gender which is typically associated with it. Also the feminine of the feminine grammatical gender.

Adjective

female (not generally comparable, comparative femaler or more female, superlative femalest or most female)

(not comparable, usually) Belonging to the sex which typically produces eggs (ova), or to the gender which is typically associated with it.
- female authors, the leading male and female artists, a female bird cooing at a male
- Twice in her thirty-year career she held office in the blacksmiths' guild. Ms. [Fya] upper Bach was no fluke, either: legal and guild records from medieval Germany list other female blacksmiths, coppersmiths, tinsmiths, and pewterers. Some of these redoubtable women gained entry into the guild...1997, Vicki León, Uppity Women of Medieval Times, Conari Press, →ISBN, page 2
(not comparable, usually) Characteristic of this sex/gender. (Compare feminine, womanly.)
- stereotypically female pastimes, an insect with typically female coloration
- A travelling shot of a harbour view near Sydney's White Bay moves into a domestic interior as a female voice says, 'There was nowhere else to live except alone.'1987, Don't Shoot[,] Darling!: Women's Independent Filmmaking in Australia, page 350
(not comparable, usually) Tending to lead to or regulate the development of sexual characteristics typical of this sex.
- the female chromosome
- estrogen, the primary female sex hormone, is produced by both females and males
(not comparable, usually) Lacking the F factor, and able to receive DNA from another bacterium which does have this factor (a male).
- In this process, one bacterium designated the male bacterium transfers its DNA into the female bacterium. Bacteria are determined to be male or female by a small piece of DNA, called F-plasmid, or sex factor. Bacteria with this small piece of DNA are labeled as males, and bacteria that do not have...2021 February 26, Gregor Majdic, Soul Mate Biology: Science of attachment and love, Springer Nature, →ISBN, page 10
(figuratively, not comparable, usually) Having an internal socket, as in a connector or pipe fitting.
- A ground-joint union is made in three separate pieces and is used for joining two pipes. It consists of two machined pieces with female pipe threads, which are screwed on the pipes to be united, and a threaded collar which holds the two pieces of the union together.1993, Ed Sarviel, Construction Estimating Reference Data, →ISBN, page 284
Synonyms:

socket

Noun

female (plural females)

An animal of the sex that produces eggs.
- Accumulated data indicate that in all species of sharks, the females grow larger than the males.1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 36
A human of feminine gender; a girl or woman.
- It would be years sometimes ere he saw the face of a female, and when he did, that face would not be overangelic.1896, John Brown, Twenty-five Years a Parson in the Wild West, page 57
- XY female patients with gonadal dysgenesis are sometimes referred to as “XY sex-reversed” patients or individuals with “XY sex reversal” (Simpson and Martin, 1981). Although widely used, this terminology is somewhat vague as it does not distinguish XY females with gonadal dysgenesis from XY females...2004, Eric Vilain, Edward R. ￶B. McCabe, “DAX1 and X-Linked Adrenal Hypoplasia Congenita and XY Sex Reversal”, in Charles J. Epstein, Robert P. Erickson, Anthony Wynshaw-Boris, editors, Inborn Errors...
A plant which produces only that kind of reproductive organ capable of developing into fruit after impregnation or fertilization; a pistillate plant.
A bacterium which lacks the F factor, and is able to receive DNA from another bacterium which has that factor.
- During mating, F+ male bacteria transfer the F factor to the recipient females, transforming them into F+ males.2001 August 1, Harrison G. Echols, Operators and Promoters: The Story of Molecular Biology and Its Creators, Univ of California Press, →ISBN, page 45
A female connector, pipe fitting, etc.
- These are the most common type, as they join females of the same diameter together. […] For example, you may need an adapter such as a 3-in. pipe thread (a common thread used to join pipes) female to 2 1⁄2 NH male.2009, Fire Engineering's Handbook for Firefighter I and II, Fire Engineering Books, →ISBN, page 412

Also used as

female is also the feminine of the feminine grammatical gender.

female meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Telugu

female in Hindi

belonging to the sex that typically produces eggs, or the gender typically associated with it: मादा mādā, नारी nārī
one of the feminine sex or gender: मादा mādā, स्त्री strī
animal of feminine sex: मादा mādā

female in Marathi

one of the feminine sex or gender: स्त्री strī

female in Urdu

belonging to the sex that typically produces eggs, or the gender typically associated with it: زَنانَہ zanāna
one of the feminine sex or gender: عَورَت 'aurat, خاتُون xātūn, خَوَاتِین xavātīn, رَن ran, مادہ māda
animal of feminine sex: مادَہ māda

female in Telugu

belonging to the sex that typically produces eggs, or the gender typically associated with it: ఆడ āḍa

More languagesFewer languages

female in Kannada: ಸ್ತ್ರೀ strī
female in Gujarati: સ્ત્રી strī
female in Odia: ନାରୀ nāri
female in Sinhala: ස්ත්රී strī
female in Arabic: أُنْثَى ʔunṯā
female in Malay: perempuan, betina
female in Indonesian: perempuan, betina
female in Persian: ماده mâde, زن zan, دختر doxtar
female in Thai: หญิง yǐng, ผู้หญิง pûu-yǐng, ตัวเมีย dtuua-miia
female in Vietnamese: gái, nữ, mái, cái
female in Myanmar: နာရီ nari, မ ma., မိန်းမ min:ma.

Examples of female in a sentence

Ms. [Fya] upper Bach was no fluke, either: legal and guild records from medieval Germany list other female blacksmiths, coppersmiths, tinsmiths, and pewterers.1997, Vicki León, Uppity Women of Medieval Times, Conari Press, →ISBN, page 2:
"Hey, are you female today? [...] The Skofnung Sword [...] can't be drawn in the presence of women."2017, Rick Riordan, Magnus Chase and the Hammer of Thor, →ISBN, page 271:
Some mentioned factional tensions and bullying within the party involving other female MSPs.2025 March 23, Libby Brooks and Severin Carrell, “‘Hostile environment’ drives many of SNP’s female MSPs to step down before 2026 vote”, in...
In addition, the pattern of the relation between female and male careers remains the same over time.2004, Mino Vianello, Gwen Moore, Women and Men in Political and Business Elites: A Comparative Study, →ISBN:

All 40 example sentences with female

Synonyms of female

socket
womanly
feminine
menstruator
vagina-owner
vagina owner

Antonyms

male

All synonyms and antonyms of female

Forms of female

Adjective
comparative	femaler
comparative	more female
superlative	femalest
superlative	most female
Noun
plural	females

Plural of female: females

Origin of 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 related. Contrast woman, which is etymologically built on man (as in, “person”).

Phrases with female

6 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with female

Questions about female

What does female mean?: Female means belonging to the sex which typically produces eggs (ova), or to the gender which is typically associated with it.
What is female in Hindi?: Female in Hindi is मादा (mādā), नारी (nārī), स्त्री (strī). See Female meaning in Hindi.
How do you use female in a sentence?: Ms. [Fya] upper Bach was no fluke, either: legal and guild records from medieval Germany list other female blacksmiths, coppersmiths, tinsmiths, and pewterers.
What part of speech is female?: Female can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce female?: Female is pronounced /ˈfiː.meɪl/.

Words near female in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: female (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-female.ogg.

Cite this entry: “female.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/female. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.