fem

a. 1. Belonging to the sex which conceives and gives birth to young, or (in a wider sense) which produces ova; not male. [ 1913 Webster ]

As patient as the female dove
When that her golden couplets are disclosed. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Belonging to an individual of the female sex; characteristic of woman; feminine; as, female tenderness. “Female usurpation.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

To the generous decision of a female mind, we owe the discovery of America. Belknap. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Bot.) Having pistils and no stamens; pistillate; or, in cryptogamous plants, capable of receiving fertilization. [ 1913 Webster ]

Female rhymes (Pros.), double rhymes, or rhymes (called in French feminine rhymes because they end in e weak, or feminine) in which two syllables, an accented and an unaccented one, correspond at the end of each line. [ 1913 Webster ] ☞ A rhyme, in which the final syllables only agree (strain, complain) is called a male rhyme; one in which the two final syllables of each verse agree, the last being short (motion, ocean), is called female. Brande & C. --
Female screw, the spiral-threaded cavity into which another, or male, screw turns. Nicholson. --
Female fern (Bot.), a common species of fern with large decompound fronds (Asplenium Filixfæmina), growing in many countries; lady fern. [ 1913 Webster ] ☞ The names male fern and female fern were anciently given to two common ferns; but it is now understood that neither has any sexual character.

Syn. -- Female, Feminine. We apply female to the sex or individual, as opposed to male; also, to the distinctive belongings of women; as, female dress, female form, female character, etc.; feminine, to things appropriate to, or affected by, women; as, feminine studies, employments, accomplishments, etc. “Female applies to sex rather than gender, and is a physiological rather than a grammatical term. Feminine applies to gender rather than sex, and is grammatical rather than physiological.” Latham. [ 1913 Webster ]