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Female ( symbol:
A gender symbol is a pictogram or glyph used to represent sexual differentiation, sex and gender, for example in biology and medicine, in genealogy, or in the sociological fields of gender politics, LGBT, LGBT subculture and identity politics. In ...
) is the
sex Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones (ova, ...
of an organism that produces the large non-motile
ova , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...
(egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and males are results of the
anisogamous Different forms of anisogamy: A) anisogamy of motile cells, B) egg_cell.html"_;"title="oogamy_(egg_cell">oogamy_(egg_cell_and_sperm_cell),_C)_anisogamy_of_non-motile_cells_(egg_cell_and_spermatia)..html" ;"title="egg_cell_and_sperm_cell.html" ;" ...
reproduction system, wherein gametes are of different sizes, unlike
isogamy Isogamy is a form of sexual reproduction that involves gametes of the same morphology (indistinguishable in shape and size), found in most unicellular eukaryotes. Because both gametes look alike, they generally cannot be classified as male or f ...
where they are the same size. The exact mechanism of female gamete evolution remains unknown. In species that have males and females, sex-determination may be based on either sex chromosomes, or environmental conditions. Most female mammals, including female humans, have two
X chromosome The X chromosome is one of the two sex-determining chromosomes ( allosomes) in many organisms, including mammals (the other is the Y chromosome), and is found in both males and females. It is a part of the XY sex-determination system and XO sex ...
s. Female characteristics vary between different species with some species having pronounced secondary female sex characteristics, such as the presence of pronounced mammary glands in mammals. In humans, the word ''female'' can also be used to refer to gender in the social sense of gender role or gender identity.


Etymology and usage

The word ''female'' comes from the Latin ''femella'', the diminutive form of ''femina'', meaning "
woman A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...
". It is not etymologically related to the word ''male'', but in the late 14th century the English spelling was altered to parallel that of ''male''.Online Etymology Dictionary - Female (n.)
Retrieved 2019-11-24
Donald M. Ayers, ''English Words from Latin and Greek Elements'', second edition (1986, University of Arizona Press), p. 113 ''Female'' is also used as a noun meaning "a female organism", though describing women as ''females'' is often considered disparaging, as it makes no distinction between other animals and humans. Biological sex is conceptually distinct from gender, although they are often treated interchangeably. The adjective ''female'' can describe a person's sex or gender identity. The word can also refer to the shape of connectors and fasteners, such as screws, electrical pins, and technical equipment. Under this convention, sockets and receptacles are called ''female,'' and the corresponding plugs ''male''.


Defining characteristics

Females produce
ova , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...
, the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller and usually
motile Motility is the ability of an organism to move independently, using metabolic energy. Definitions Motility, the ability of an organism to move independently, using metabolic energy, can be contrasted with sessility, the state of organisms th ...
gametes, the
spermatozoa A spermatozoon (; also spelled spermatozoön; ; ) is a motile sperm cell, or moving form of the haploid cell that is the male gamete. A spermatozoon joins an ovum to form a zygote. (A zygote is a single cell, with a complete set of chromosomes, ...
, are produced by males. Generally, a female cannot reproduce sexually without access to the gametes of a male, and vice versa,