Female (

symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...

♀ A gender symbol is a pictogram or glyph used to represent sex and gender, for example in biology and medicine, in genealogy, or in the sociological fields of gender politics, LGBT subculture and identity politics. In his books (1767) and (1771) ...

) 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, oft ...

of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (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 reproduction system, wherein gametes are of different sizes, unlike isogamy 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

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

s, including female humans, have two X chromosomes. 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". 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 2019-11-24Donald 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, the larger gametes in a

heterogamous Heterogamy is a term applied to a variety of distinct phenomena in different scientific domains. Usually having to do with some kind of difference, "hetero", in reproduction, "gamy". See below for more specific senses. Science Reproductive biolog ...

reproduction system, while the smaller and usually motile gametes, the spermatozoa, are produced by males. Generally, a female cannot reproduce sexually without access to the gametes of a male, and vice versa,