male and female
The two sexes
Male and female are the two sexes in species that reproduce sexually—male produces sperm, female produces eggs.
The terms apply to humans, animals, and plants.
As adjectives, they describe sex-specific things: male pattern baldness, female reproductive system.
In electronics and plumbing, male connectors insert into female receptacles.
The distinction between male/female (biological sex) and man/woman (social gender) has become more prominent in contemporary usage.
- genderSocial identity category
- gender binaryStrict two-category sex classification
- sexReproductive category or act
- men and womenAdult humans collectively
- manAdult male human
woman · boy · girl · boys and girls · he · she · binary · opposite · opposite sex · pair · couple · Adam and Eve · mating · reproduction · battle of the sexes · sex chromosomes · chromosomes · hormones
male and femaleneuter
Remove fertility surgically
asexual · sexless · unsexed · genderless · ungendered
male and femaleneither male nor female
non-binary · genderqueer · third gender · intersex · gender-fluid
male, female, males, females, maleness, femaleness, masculine, masculinity, masculinize