Female Is Not Built From Male
Female describes the sex that produces eggs. Despite appearances, the word did not come from male at all.
Female describes the sex that produces ova. The spelling is misleading: the word came from Old French *femelle*, from Latin *femella*, a young woman, a diminutive of *femina*. It had nothing to do with *male*, which came from Latin *masculus*. English respelled *femelle* to match *male* by analogy, creating a family resemblance that was never real.
- Of the egg-producing sex. *A female bird.*
- A woman or girl (formal or biological). *Females in the sample.*
- Of a connector receiving another. *A female socket.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Adjective | female | Female athletes. |
| Noun | female | Two females. |
| Related | feminine | A feminine noun. |
| Related | feminism | Second-wave feminism. |
| Latin | femina | Latin *femina*. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The female of the species is larger.Biology.
- Female and feminine differ.Sex and gendered qualities.
- A female connector receives a plug.Engineering.
Words respelled by analogy
- female — from *femelle*, reshaped to match male
- island — the S was added by analogy with *isle*
- could — the L came from *should* and *would*
- rhyme — respelled to look like *rhythm*
- scissors — the C added by mistaken Latin analogy
From Old French *femelle*, from Latin *femella*, a diminutive of *femina*, woman. The spelling was altered under the influence of *male*.
Is female derived from male?
No. The resemblance is an accident of respelling. The two words come from entirely different Latin sources.
Female or woman?
Female is the biological adjective. Using it as a noun for people can sound clinical or dismissive outside scientific writing.