*SET-U

CANONICAL LANGUAGE GRAPH

TRACE A WORD ↗
NODE / 0809attestedPresent-Day English

female

TRANSLITERATION femalePRONUNCIATION /ˈfiːmeɪl/

of or relating to the female sex; a female individual

DATE
14th century–today
SENSE
female sex class
FAMILY
Indo-European / Germanic
CANONICAL KEY
node:1:female:attested:sense:female-sex-class

The modern spelling was remodeled under the influence of male.

01

ANCESTRAL EDGES

ROOT OF THIS ROOT

2
GO DEEPERanalogical reshapingestablished
Middle English · Middle English · female noun

femelle

female

SOUND
Earlier femelle or femel was respelled female under the influence of male.
MEANING
The sex-class meaning continues while surface spelling creates a misleading resemblance.
CHRONOLOGY
The remodeling occurs within English after borrowing.
SCHOLAR
Merriam-Webster Editors · American Heritage Dictionary Editors
CONFIDENCE
established — Influence is not common ancestry or morphological composition.
Female — Definition, Word History, and First Known UsesupportsWord History: alteration of femel or femelle influenced by male

Directly identifies male as spelling influence rather than ancestor.

ORIGINAL ↗
Female — American Heritage DictionarycontextEtymology: alteration influenced by male

Independently publishes the analogical remodeling.

ORIGINAL ↗
OPEN CANONICAL EDGE 814 ↗
GO DEEPERanalogical influenceestablished
Present-Day English · 14th century–today · male sex class

male

of or relating to the male sex; a male individual

SOUND
The spelling female was remodeled under the influence of male.
MEANING
The words become visually paired without acquiring shared ancestry.
SCHOLAR
Merriam-Webster Editors · American Heritage Dictionary Editors
CONFIDENCE
established — This edge encodes spelling influence only.
Female — Definition, Word History, and First Known UsesupportsWord History: alteration influenced by male

Directly publishes the spelling influence.

ORIGINAL ↗
Female — American Heritage DictionarycontextEtymology: alteration influenced by male

Independently confirms the edge.

ORIGINAL ↗
OPEN CANONICAL EDGE 842 ↗
02

DIRECT DESCENDANT EDGES

THE NEXT HISTORICAL STEP

0

No reviewed descendants currently reuse this node. Absence describes the graph, not the entire history of the form.

03

TRANSITIVE DESCENDANT CLOSURE

EVERY REVIEWED BRANCH FROM HERE

0

This is the complete downstream closure currently supported by the canonical graph. Every displayed step is a real reviewed edge with its own sound claim, meaning claim, scholar, confidence, and citations.

UNIQUE DESCENDANT NODES
0
REVIEWED EDGES
0
DEEPEST PATH
0
MODERN DOSSIERS REACHED
0

No downstream edge has cleared review for this node. This is a graph-coverage statement, not a claim that the historical form produced nothing.

“Every” means every descendant in the reviewed SET-U graph. It does not convert missing scholarship or missing ingestion into a claim of historical completeness. The coverage ledger remains the honest denominator.

04

RECORDED EVIDENCE

ATTESTATIONS / FIRST KNOWN USE

1
05

EDITORIAL REUSE

WORD DOSSIERS USING THIS NODE

1
01femalefemale · established