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PERMANENT SOURCE RECORD

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BIBLIOGRAPHIC IDENTITYmw-female

SOURCE
RECORD.

One work. Every claim that depends on it. No citation without a consequence you can inspect.

CLAIM-LEVEL USAGE

11 PUBLIC LINKS INTO THE GRAPH.

This count excludes duplicate dossier-path citations. Open the claims below to see exactly how the source is used.

historical dictionarymw-female

Female — Definition, Word History, and First Known Use

AUTHOR / EDITOR
Merriam-Webster Editors
YEAR
2026
PUBLISHER
Merriam-Webster
DOI
Not recorded
SOURCE TYPE
historical dictionary
EXTERNAL RECORD
OPEN ORIGINAL ↗
4CANONICAL EDGES
1WITNESSES
0COMPARISONS
0CONTEXT LINKS
1RANKED REVEALS
3DISPUTES
2JOURNEY STAGES
2WORD DOSSIERS
01

CONTRARIAN TRUTH CLAIMS

RANKED REVEALS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE

1
RANK 114GRADE Asupports

Male changed female’s spelling, not its ancestry.

Female descends from Latin fēmella and fēmina through French; later English speakers remodeled its spelling under male.

*dheh₁(i)-

*dheh₁(i)- → *dhē-mnā- → fēmina → fēmella → femele → femelle → female

Word History: altered under the influence of male

Publishes influence without ancestry.

female dossier ↗truth record ↗86UNVEILING
02

SCHOLARLY DISAGREEMENT

DISPUTE POSITIONS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE

3
03

CANONICAL RELATIONSHIP CLAIMS

EDGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE

4
EDGE 814supportsestablished

female → femelle

Present-Day English → Middle English · analogical reshaping

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.
SCHOLAR / EDITOR
Merriam-Webster Editors · American Heritage Dictionary Editors
Word History: alteration of femel or femelle influenced by male

Directly identifies male as spelling influence rather than ancestor.

OPEN THE PERMANENT CLAIM ↗
EDGE 815supportsestablished

femelle → femele

Middle English → Old French · borrowing

SOUND
Middle English femelle continues Old French femele or femelle.
MEANING
The female noun crosses from French into English.
SCHOLAR / EDITOR
Merriam-Webster Editors · American Heritage Dictionary Editors
Etymology: Middle English femel or femelle from Anglo-French femele or femelle

Publishes the French borrowing channel.

OPEN THE PERMANENT CLAIM ↗
EDGE 817supportsestablished

fēmella → fēmina

Latin → Latin · diminutive derivation

SOUND
Latin fēmella is a diminutive of fēmina.
MEANING
A young-female formation continues the broader woman or female noun.
SCHOLAR / EDITOR
Merriam-Webster Editors · American Heritage Dictionary Editors
Etymology: Latin femella, diminutive of femina

Publishes the Latin diminutive.

OPEN THE PERMANENT CLAIM ↗
EDGE 842supportsestablished

female → male

Present-Day English → Present-Day English · analogical influence

SOUND
The spelling female was remodeled under the influence of male.
MEANING
The words become visually paired without acquiring shared ancestry.
SCHOLAR / EDITOR
Merriam-Webster Editors · American Heritage Dictionary Editors
Word History: alteration influenced by male

Directly publishes the spelling influence.

OPEN THE PERMANENT CLAIM ↗
04

LEXICAL ATTESTATIONS

WITNESSES REPORTED BY THIS SOURCE

1
femaleSOURCE-REPORTED

female

Merriam-Webster first-known-use report for female

OPEN WITNESS 177 ↗
05

COMPARATIVE EVIDENCE

COGNATES, DESCENDANTS, AND RELATIVES

0
No comparative-relative record currently cites this source.
06

GEOGRAPHIC AND TEMPORAL CLAIMS

JOURNEY STAGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE

2
07

NON-GENEALOGICAL CONNECTIONS

HISTORICAL CONTEXT, KEPT SEPARATE

0
No non-genealogical context link currently cites this source.
08

WORD-FAMILY REUSE

DOSSIERS THAT DEPEND ON THIS SOURCE

2
female9 CLAIM LINKS↗male1 CLAIM LINKS↗

3 entry-scoped citations map reviewed dossier paths onto the canonical claims above.