"female (of an animal)" in seven languages
Meaningfemale (of an animal)
Spanish
/ˈembɾa/
fem.inherited
French
/fəmɛl/
fem.other source · Latin FĒMELLAM 'young woman', a diminutive of FĒMINA
Italian
/ˈfemmina/
fem.inherited
Also used of people: maschio o femmina? 'boy or girl?'.
Portuguese
/ˈfemjɐ/
fem.inherited
Portuguese loses Latin intervocalic -n-: FĒMINA → fêmea, as LŪNA → lua.
Romanian
/feˈmelə/
fem.other source · French femelle (Latin FĒMELLA, a diminutive of FĒMINA)
Catalan
/fəˈmeʎə/
fem.other source · Latin FĒMELLAM 'young woman', a diminutive of FĒMINA
English
/ˈfimeɪl/
other source · Old French femelle (Latin FĒMELLA), respelled after male
Female and male look like a pair but are unrelated: male comes from MASCULUS.
The Latin ancestor
FĒMINAM‘woman, female’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spanish hembra shows two changes at once: F- became a silent h, and the stranded MN after syncope grew into mbr (as in hombre from HOMINEM).
English relatives: feminine, feminism, effeminate
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esLa hembra pone cuatro huevos.
- frLa femelle pond quatre œufs.
- itLa femmina depone quattro uova.
- ptA fêmea põe quatro ovos.
- roFemela depune patru ouă.
- caLa femella pon quatre ous.
- enThe female lays four eggs.