Female

Female (♀) is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces ova (egg cells). The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon is produced by the male. more...

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A female individual cannot reproduce sexually without access to the gametes of a male (an exception is parthenogenesis). Some organisms can reproduce both sexually and asexually.

There is no single genetic mechanism behind sex differences in different species and the existence of two sexes seems to have evolved multiple times independently in different evolutionary lineages. Other than the defining difference in the type of gamete produced, differences between males and females in one lineage cannot always be predicted by differences in another. The concept is not limited to animals; egg cells are produced by chytrids, diatoms, water molds and land plants, among others. In land plants, female and male designate not only the egg- and sperm-producing organisms and structures, but also the structures of the sporophytes that give rise to male and female plants.

Etymology and usage

The word female comes from the Latin femella, the diminutive form of femina, meaning 'woman', which is not actually related to the word 'male.' The word was probably originally femella, meaning "young girl". In the late 14th century, the English spelling was altered so that the word paralleled the spelling of "male".

The word female is generally considered neutral when used as an adjective; when used as a noun, it is often regarded as derogatory. Female judge would be preferable to woman judge; "This judge is a woman" would be preferable to "This judge is a female." There are exceptions: League of Women Voters is a name chosen by the mostly-female members of the League. The American Heritage Dictionary and the Random House Dictionary are not completely clear on this point, which is a sensitive point: it is hard to find neutral terms for women performing jobs once reserved for men, because these women generally insist that they belong there; and many other people—including some women—insist that they do not.

The phrase the female, in the sense of the female sex or the class of all women, figures prominently in the first act of Henry V, in which Henry's bishops discuss with him the right of the French King to his throne—and Henry's right to usurp it. They conclude that the salic law cited by the French is not really French, but German, and that Henry can properly invade France, thus prolonging the Hundred Years' War.

Mammalian female

The distinguishing characteristic of mammalian species is the presence of mammary glands. The mammary glands are modified sweat glands that produce milk, which is used to feed the young during the period of time shortly after birth. Only mammals have the capacity to produce milk. The presence of mammary glands is most obvious on humans, due to the tendency of the female human body to store large amounts of fatty tissue near the nipples, resulting in prominent breasts, although today some human females also surgically augment their breast size. However, mammary glands are present in all mammals, although they are vestigial in the male of the species.

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