Etymology and Usage
The word female comes from the Latin femella, the diminutive form of femina, meaning "woman," which is not etymologically related to the word male. In the late 14th century, the spelling was altered in English to parallel the spelling of male.
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“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)
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