FEMALE
Fe"male, a.
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. (Bot.)
Defn: Having pistils and no stamens; pistillate; or, in cryptogamous plants, capable of receiving fertilization.
FEMALE FERN
Female fern (Bot.),
Defn: a common species of fern with large decompound fronds
(Asplenium Filixfæmina), growing in many countries; lady fern.
Note: The names male fern and female fern were anciently given to two common ferns; but it is now understood that neither has any sexual character.
Syn. — Female, Feminine. We apply female to the sex or individual, as opposed to male; also, to the distinctive belongings of women; as, female dress, female form, female character, etc.; feminine, to things appropriate to, or affected by, women; as, feminine studies, employments, accomplishments, etc. "Female applies to sex rather than gender, and is a physiological rather than a grammatical term. Feminine applies to gender rather than sex, and is grammatical rather than physiological." Latham.
FEMALE RHYMES
Female rhymes (Pros.),