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   Fe·male

   /ˈfēˌmāl/

   

   adjective

   • 1. of or denoting the sex that can bear offspring or produce eggs, distinguished biologically by the production of gametes (ova) which can be fertilized by male gametes: "a herd of female deer"
   • ▪ relating to women or the female gender: "a female name"
   • ▪ (of a plant or flower) having a pistil but no stamens.
   • ▪ (of parts of machinery, fittings, etc.) manufactured hollow so that a corresponding male part can be inserted.

   noun

   • 1. a female animal or plant: "females may lay several hundred eggs in two to four weeks"
   • ▪ a female person; a woman or girl: "both males and females accumulate economic knowledge at a similar rate"

   Word Origin Middle English: from Old French femelle, from Latin femella, diminutive of femina ‘a woman’. The change in the ending was due to association with male, but the words male and female are not linked etymologically.

   Derivatives

   • 1. femaleness noun

   Scrabble Points: 11

   • F

     4

   • E

     1

   • M

     3

   • A

     1

   • L

     1

   • E

     1

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