A daughter is a female offspring; a girl, woman, or female animal in relation to her parents. Daughterhood is the state of being a daughter. The masculine counterpart is a son. Analogously the name is used in several areas to show relations between groups or elements.
In patriarchal societies, daughters often have different or lesser familial rights than sons. A family may prefer to have sons rather than daughters, with the daughters subjected to female infanticide. In some societies it is the custom for a daughter to be 'sold' to her husband, who must pay a bride price. The reverse of this custom, where the parents pay the husband a sum of money to compensate for the financial burden of the woman, is found in societies where women do not labour outside the home, and is referred to as dowry.
In the United States, the birth rate is 105 sons to 100 daughters which has been the natural birth rate since the 18th century. About 80 percent of prospective adoptive parents from the US will choose a girl over a boy.
Read more about Daughter: In The Bible
Famous quotes containing the word daughter:
“[T]he syndrome known as life is too diffuse to admit of palliation. For every symptom that is eased, another is made worse. The horse leechs daughter is a closed system. Her quantum of wantum cannot vary.”
—Samuel Beckett (19061989)
“O staye, O staye, thou goodlye youthe,
She standeth by thy side;
She is here alive, she is not dead,
And readye to be thy bride.”
—Unknown. The Bailiffs Daughter of Islington (l. 4548)
“The first general store opened on the Cold Saturday of the winter of 1833 ... Mrs. Mary Miller, daughter of the stores promoter, recorded in a letter: Chickens and birds fell dead from their roosts, cows ran bellowing through the streets; but she failed to state what effect the freeze had on the gala occasion of the store opening.”
—Administration in the State of Sout, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)