femmina

female

noun FEM-mee-nah Rare

Origin: From Latin femina (woman, female).

Also means

girl

Usage Note

Femmina denotes the female sex of animals and humans (una femmina di elefante — a female elephant; è nata una femmina — a girl has been born). It can stand in apposition to mark biological sex, as in tigre femmina (female tiger). Contrast with donna (adult woman) and ragazza (girl): femmina emphasises biological sex, not age or social role. The masculine counterpart is maschio.

Examples

"Il veterinario ha detto che il gatto è una femmina."

Natural Translation

The vet said the cat is a female.

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