American Dictionary of the English Language

Dictionary Search

Female


FE'MALE, noun [Latin femella. See Feminine.]

1. Among animals, one of that sex which conceives and brings forth young.

2. Among plants, that which produces fruit; that which bears the pistil and receives the pollen of the male flowers.

FE'MALE, adjective

1. Noting the sex which produces young; not male; as a female bee.

2. Pertaining to females; as a female hand or heart; female tenderness.

To the generous decision of a female mind, we owe the discovery of America.

3. Feminine; soft; delicate; weak.

Female rhymes, double rhymes, so called from the French, in which language they end in e feminine.