female definition

1. An individual of the sex which conceives and brings forth young, or (in a wider sense) which has an ovary and produces ova. "The male and female of each living thing." (Drayton)

2. <botany> A plant which produces only that kind of reproductive organs which are capable of developing into fruit after impregnation or fertilization; a pistillate plant.

Origin: OE. Femel, femal, F. Femelle, fr. L. Femella, dim. Of femina woman. See Feminine.

1. Belonging to the sex which conceives and gives birth to young, or (in a wider sense) which produces ova; not male. "As patient as the female dove When that her golden couplets are disclosed." (Shak)

2. Belonging to an individual of the female sex; characteristic of woman; feminine; as, female tenderness. "Female usurpation.'b8 (Milton) "To the generous decision of a female mind, we owe the discovery of America." (Belknap)

3. <botany> Having pistils and no stamens; pistillate; or, in cryptogamous plants, capable of receiving fertilization.

(01 Mar 1998)