female
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
An animal that produces gametes that can be fertilized by male gametes.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
feemaylSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈfimeɪl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
An animal that produces gametes (ova) that can be fertilized by male gametes (spermatozoa)
“The female laid three eggs in the nest this morning.”
An animal of the sex that produces eggs.
One of the female (feminine) sex or gender.
A female connector, pipe fitting, etc.
A bacterium which lacks the F factor, and is able to receive DNA from another bacterium which has that factor.
adjective
Being the sex (of plant or animal) that produces fertilizable gametes (ova) from which offspring develop
Belonging to the sex which typically produces eggs (ova), or to the gender which is typically associated with it.
Characteristic of this sex/gender.
Tending to lead to or regulate the development of sexual characteristics typical of this sex.
figuratively
Having an internal socket, as in a connector or pipe fitting.
of bacteria
Lacking the F factor, and able to receive DNA from another bacterium which does have this factor (a male).
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An animal that produces gametes (ova) that can be fertilized by male gametes (spermatozoa)
Used this way, female is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“The female laid three eggs in the nest this morning.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use female
- “Female authors, the leading male and female artists, a female bird cooing at a male, intersex female patients, a trans female vlogger.”adjective
- “Stereotypically female pastimes, an insect with typically female coloration.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The body of a female human being.
The formation of a close personal relationship between women.
The chest of a woman.
A youthful female person.
Excision of the clitoris.
External female sex organs.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: animal that produces gametes (ova) that can be fertilized by male gametes (spermatozoa)
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.