A woman (/ˈwʊmən/), pl: women (/ˈwɪmɨn/) is a female human. The term woman is usually reserved for an adult, with the term girl being the usual term for a female child or adolescent. However, the term woman is also sometimes used to identify a female human, regardless of age, as in phrases such as "Women's rights". Unlike men, women are typically capable of giving birth.
Read more about Woman: Etymology, Terminology, History, Biology and Gender, Culture and Gender Roles
Famous quotes containing the word woman:
“In those hours when history becomes terrible, it is as if the soul of woman seizes the moment and tries to set an example for the soul of man ... the soul of the French woman is really a heroic blend of family and homeland.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
“...I am an abolitionist for the sake of my own race—Contact with the African degenerates our white race—I find the association with them injurious to my child—keenly as I watch to prevent it & his faithful nurse to help me ... She is a good woman & so are many of them—Still the race is a degraded one ...”
—Elizabeth Blair Lee (1818–?)
“The only difference between a man and woman climbing the ladder of success is that a woman is expected to put it in the closet when she’s finished with it.”
—Barbara Dale (b. 1940)