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Female

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. (Science: 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. (Science: botany) Having pistils and no stamens; pistillate; or, in cryptogamous plants, capable of receiving fertilization.