What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

What is the difference between female and girlfriend?

female | girlfriend |

As nouns the difference between female and girlfriend

is that female is someone or something of feminine sex or gender while girlfriend is a female partner in a romantic relationship.

As a adjective female

is belonging or referring to the sex which is generally characterized as the one associated with the larger gametes (for species which have two sexes and for which this distinction can be made), which in humans and many other species is the sex which produces eggs and which has xx chromosomes.

female

English

Adjective

(-)
  • Belonging to the sex which typically produces eggs, which in humans and most other mammals is typically the one which has XX chromosomes; belonging to the sex which has larger gametes (for species which have two sexes and for which this distinction can be made).
  • * 1987 , Don't Shoot[,] Darling!: Women's Independent Filmmaking in Australia , page 350:
  • A travelling shot of a harbour view near Sydney's White Bay moves into a domestic interior as a female voice says, 'There was nowhere else to live except alone.'
  • Belonging to the feminine (social) gender.
  • (grammar, less common than 'feminine') Feminine; of the feminine grammatical gender.
  • * 2012 , Naomi McIlwraith, Kiyâm: Poems (ISBN 1926836693), page 43:
  • The teacher's voice inflects the pulse of nêhiyawêwin as he teaches us. He says a prayer in the first class. Nouns, we learn, have a gender. In French, nouns are male or female , but in Cree, nouns are living or non-living, animate or inanimate.
  • (figuratively) Having an internal socket, as in a connector or pipe fitting.
  • Synonyms

    * feminine * (figuratively) socket

    Coordinate terms

    * intersex * transgender * male * neuter

    Derived terms

    * female-assigned, cisfemale, transfemale

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • One of the female (feminine) sex or gender.
  • # A human member of the feminine sex or gender.
  • # An animal of the sex that produces eggs.
  • # (botany) A plant which produces only that kind of reproductive organ capable of developing into fruit after impregnation or fertilization; a pistillate plant.
  • Synonyms

    * girl; see also * woman; see also

    See also

    * female genital mutilation * (Symbol for female) * (wikipedia) * sex, gender, gender identity

    girlfriend

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A female partner in a romantic relationship.
  • Marc went to the park with his girlfriend and watched the sunset with her.
  • A female friend.
  • Mary always enjoyed hanging out with her girlfriend Jessica.

    Synonyms

    * (female friend) chickfriend (slang)

    Usage notes

    * The term is used to describe any girl or woman in a romantic relationship with another person. * An adult woman in such a non-marital relationship is sometimes described instead as a significant other'' or ''partner'', especially if the two partners are living together. Since ''girlfriend'' and ''partner mean different things to different people, the distinctions between the terms are subjective, and which term is used in a relationship will ultimately be determined by personal preference. * The use of girlfriend for a female non-romantic friend of another female is limited in geographic distribution and sometimes preferred by older generations of speakers.

    Alternative forms

    * girl friend * girl-friend

    See also

    female partner in a romantic relationship * boyfriend * * lover * partner * significant other * sweetheart * wife * lady friend a female friend * boyfriend * buddy * friend * pal