female fern

Female \Fe"male\, a.
   1. Belonging to the sex which conceives and gives birth to
      young, or (in a wider sense) which produces ova; not male.
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            As patient as the female dove
            When that her golden couplets are disclosed. --Shak.
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   2. Belonging to an individual of the female sex;
      characteristic of woman; feminine; as, female tenderness.
      "Female usurpation." --Milton.
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            To the generous decision of a female mind, we owe
            the discovery of America.             --Belknap.
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   3. (Bot.) Having pistils and no stamens; pistillate; or, in
      cryptogamous plants, capable of receiving fertilization.
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   {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.
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   Note: 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 Filixf[ae]mina}), growing in
      many countries; lady fern.
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   Note: 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}.

   Usage: 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.
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