Female - Definition and Overview

Female is a sex that denotes an animal which produces egg cells in order to reproduce. (The "egg cell" is the larger gamete). Female or Feminine is a grammatical gender in many languages.

The female is one half of a heterogamous reproduction system, where the male is the other half. In many cases, a female cannot reproduce without sexual intercourse with a male, although some exceptions exist. What actually differentiates a female from a male is not always apparent, and in some cases is more a question of definition than anything else. 'Female' and 'male' designate reproductive structures in plants, so the concept is not just limited to animals. A woman is a female human being.

In most cultures, women are expected to conform to a standard female gender role. Female is commonly represented by the symbol ♀.

Other meanings of female

• In hardware and electronics, a female connector is a component, such as a socket, which is designed to be receive and contain a corresponding male component. The word female figuratively means internal based on this sense. (See also gender of connectors and fasteners and gender changer.)

See also

• Woman for more on female humans.
• Women In Hinduism for Present Hindu Women situation