Meaning

noun an animal that produces gametes (ova) that can be fertilized by male gametes (spermatozoa)

noun a person who belongs to the sex that can have babies

adjective being the sex (of plant or animal) that produces fertilizable gametes (ova) from which offspring develop

originEtymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)-der. Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-éh₂ Proto-Italic *θēmanā Proto-Italic *fēmanā Latin fēmina Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Indo-European *-elós Proto-Italic *-elos Latin -lus Latin fēmella Old French femelebor. Middle English femele Middle English female English female From Middle English female, an alteration of Middle English femele, from Old…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0