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The symbol of the Roman goddess Venus is used to represent the female sex in biology. [1] An organism's sex is female (symbol: ♀) if it produces the ovum (egg cell), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete (sperm cell) during sexual reproduction. [2] [3] [4] A female has larger gametes than a male.
Merriam-Webster defines sex as "either of the two major forms of individuals that occur in many species and that are distinguished respectively as female or male especially on the basis of their reproductive organs and structures." or "the sum of the structural, functional, and sometimes behavioral characteristics of organisms that distinguish ...
In 2020, Merriam-Webster expanded its definitions of female and girl to add trans-inclusive senses ("having a gender identity that is the opposite of male"; "a person whose gender identity is female"). In 2022, a man from California was arrested for threatening to bomb Merriam-Webster's offices and kill its employees. [18]
The Oxford Etymological Dictionary of the English Language of 1882 defined gender as kind, breed, sex, derived from the Latin ablative case of genus, like genere natus, which refers to birth. [25] The first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED1, Volume 4, 1900) notes the original meaning of gender as "kind" had already become obsolete.
A world map showing female governmental participation by country, 2010. Women are underrepresented in government in most countries. In January 2019, the global average of women in national assemblies was 24.3%. [155] Sirimavo Bandaranaike was the first female prime minister; she was democratically elected in Sri Lanka in 1960.
In 1864, Merriam published a greatly expanded edition, which was the first version to change Webster's text, largely overhauling his work yet retaining many of his definitions and the title, An American Dictionary. In 1884, the edition contained 118,000 words, "3000 more than any other English dictionary".
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage (MWDEU) is a usage dictionary published by Merriam-Webster, Inc., of Springfield, Massachusetts. It is currently available in a reprint edition (1994) ISBN 0-87779-132-5 or ISBN 978-0-87779-132-4. (The 1989 edition did not include Merriam-in the title.
The terms womyn and womxn have been criticized for being unnecessary or confusing neologisms, due to the uncommonness of mxn to describe men. [8] [9] [10]The word womyn has been criticized by transgender people [11] [12] due to its usage in trans-exclusionary radical feminist circles which exclude trans women from identifying into the category of "woman", particularly the term womyn-born womyn.