‖ [ F., lit., decimal candle. ] A photometric standard used in France, having the value of one twentieth of the Violle platinum standard, or slightly less than a British standard candle. Called also decimal candle. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ OE. femel, femal, F. femelle, fr. L. femella, dim. of femina woman. See Feminine. ] 1. An individual of the sex which conceives and brings forth young, or (in a wider sense) which has an ovary and produces ova. [ 1913 Webster ]

The male and female of each living thing. Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) A plant which produces only that kind of reproductive organs which are capable of developing into fruit after impregnation or fertilization; a pistillate plant. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Belonging to the sex which conceives and gives birth to young, or (in a wider sense) which produces ova; not male. [ 1913 Webster ]

As patient as the female dove
When that her golden couplets are disclosed. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Belonging to an individual of the female sex; characteristic of woman; feminine; as, female tenderness. “Female usurpation.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

To the generous decision of a female mind, we owe the discovery of America. Belknap. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Bot.) Having pistils and no stamens; pistillate; or, in cryptogamous plants, capable of receiving fertilization. [ 1913 Webster ]

Female rhymes (Pros.), double rhymes, or rhymes (called in French feminine rhymes because they end in e weak, or feminine) in which two syllables, an accented and an unaccented one, correspond at the end of each line. [ 1913 Webster ] ☞ A rhyme, in which the final syllables only agree (strain, complain) is called a male rhyme; one in which the two final syllables of each verse agree, the last being short (motion, ocean), is called female. Brande & C. --
Female screw, the spiral-threaded cavity into which another, or male, screw turns. Nicholson. --
Female fern (Bot.), a common species of fern with large decompound fronds (Asplenium Filixfæmina), growing in many countries; lady fern. [ 1913 Webster ] ☞ The names male fern and female fern were anciently given to two common ferns; but it is now understood that neither has any sexual character.

Syn. -- Female, Feminine. We apply female to the sex or individual, as opposed to male; also, to the distinctive belongings of women; as, female dress, female form, female character, etc.; feminine, to things appropriate to, or affected by, women; as, feminine studies, employments, accomplishments, etc. “Female applies to sex rather than gender, and is a physiological rather than a grammatical term. Feminine applies to gender rather than sex, and is grammatical rather than physiological.” Latham. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. malus. See Malice. ] Evil; wicked; bad. [ Obs. ] Marston. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Mail, a bag. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. mâle, OF. masle, mascle, fr. L. masculus male, masculine, dim. of mas a male; possibly akin to E. man. Cf. Masculine, Marry, v. t. ] 1. Of or pertaining to the sex that begets or procreates young, or (in a wider sense) to the sex that produces spermatozoa, by which the ova are fertilized; not female; as, male organs. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) Capable of producing fertilization, but not of bearing fruit; -- said of stamens and antheridia, and of the plants, or parts of plants, which bear them. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Suitable to the male sex; characteristic or suggestive of a male; masculine; as, male courage. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Consisting of males; as, a male choir. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Mech.) Adapted for entering another corresponding piece (the female piece) which is hollow and which it fits; as, a male gauge, for gauging the size or shape of a hole; a male screw, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Male fern (Bot.), a fern of the genus Aspidium (Aspidium Filixmas), used in medicine as an anthelmintic, esp. against the tapeworm. Aspidium marginale in America, and Aspidium athamanticum in South Africa, are used as good substitutes for the male fern in medical practice. See Female fern, under Female. --
Male rhyme, a rhyme in which only the last syllables agree, as laid, afraid, dismayed. See Female rhyme, under Female. --
Male screw (Mech.), a screw having threads upon its exterior which enter the grooves upon the inside of a corresponding nut or female screw. --
Male thread, the thread of a male screw. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. An animal of the male sex. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) A plant bearing only staminate flowers. [ 1913 Webster ]

See Mal-. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Maladministration. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A salt of maleic acid. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Bot.) A deciduous much-branched shrub (Lyonia ligustrina) with dense downy panicles of small bell-shaped white flowers; also called swamp andromeda.
Syn. -- privet andromeda, he-huckleberry, Lyonia ligustrina. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. (Bot.) A kind of coffee. See Pea berry. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The body of an adult human male; -- a term used especially in art; as, Da Vinci was unexcelled in painting the male body.
Syn. -- adult male body, man's body. [ PJC ]

n. The philosophical system of Malebranche, an eminent French metaphysician. The fundamental doctrine of his system is that the mind can not have knowledge of anything external to itself except in its relation to God. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Disparaging, patronizing, discriminatory or abusive speech or behavior by males toward females stemming from a belief that males are superior to females and females therefore worthy of less respect and inferior treatment. A form of sexism. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. A man with a belief in the inferiority of women; one who believes in or practises male chavinism.
Syn. -- sexist. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. Malconformation. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Malcontent. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. maledicentia. See Maledicent. ] Evil speaking. [ Obs. ] Atterbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. maledicens, p. pr. of maledicere to speak ill; male ill + dicere to say, speak. See Malice, and Diction. ] Speaking reproachfully; slanderous. [ Obs. ] Sir E. Sandys. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. maledictus, p. p. of maledicere. ] Accursed; abominable. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. maledictio: cf. F. malédiction. See Maledicent. ] A proclaiming of evil against some one; a cursing; imprecation; a curse or execration; -- opposed to benediction. [ 1913 Webster ]

No malediction falls from his tongue. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Cursing; curse; execration; imprecation; denunciation; anathema. -- Malediction, Curse, Imprecation, Execration. Malediction is the most general term, denoting bitter reproach, or wishes and predictions of evil. Curse implies the desire or threat of evil, declared upon oath or in the most solemn manner. Imprecation is literally the praying down of evil upon a person. Execration is literally a putting under the ban of excommunication, a curse which excludes from the kingdom of God. In ordinary usage, the last three words describe profane swearing, execration being the strongest. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Malefactor. ] A crime; an offense; an evil deed. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L., fr. malefacere to do evil; male ill, evil + facere to do. See Malice, and Fact. ] 1. An evil doer; one who commits a crime; one subject to public prosecution and punishment; a criminal. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who does wrong by injuring another, although not a criminal. Opposite of benefactor. H. Brooke. Fuller.
“Malefactors of great wealth.” [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

Syn. -- Evil doer; criminal; culprit; felon; convict. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A female malefactor. Hawthorne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Malfeasance. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A fern of North America and Europe (Dryopteris filix-mas) whose rhizomes and stalks yield an oleoresin used to expel tapeworms. It is a member of the woodfern genus. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ L. maleficus: cf. F. maléfique. See Malefaction. ] Doing mischief; causing harm or evil; nefarious; hurtful. [ R. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. maleficium: cf. F. maléfice. See Malefactor. ] An evil deed; artifice; enchantment. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. maleficentia. Cf. Malfeasance. ] Evil doing, esp. to others. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Malefic. ] Doing evil to others; harmful; mischievous. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Injurious. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ LL. maleficiatus, p. p. of maleficiare to bewitch, fr. L. maleficium. See Malefice. ] To bewitch; to harm. [ Obs. ] Burton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A bewitching. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Maleficence. ] The doing of evil, harm, or mischief. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Maleficent. ] Doing evil, harm, or mischief. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Malformation. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. maléique. See Malic. ] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, an acid of the ethylene series (maleic acid), metameric with fumaric acid and obtained by heating malic acid. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Chem.) An unsaturated dicarboxylic acid (HO.CO.CH=CH.CO.OH) of cis conformation, having various uses in the manufacture of artificial resins, the dyeing and finishing of wool, silk, and cotton, and also combined with certain drugs to make salts more soluble than the basic forms. The corresponding isomer having trans conformation, is identical in chemical formula, is called fumaric acid. MI11 [ PJC ]

n. [ OF. malengin; L. malus bad, evil + ingenium natural capacity. See Engine. ] Evil machination; guile; deceit. [ Obs. ] Gower. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From its native name. ] (Zool.) A bird of Celebes (megacephalon maleo), allied to the brush turkey. It makes mounds in which to lay its eggs. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Malodor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A Eurasian orchid (Orchis mascula) with showy pink or purple flowers in a loose spike.
Syn. -- early purple orchid, Orchis mascula. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. An orgasm in a male animal accompanied by the ejaculation of semen. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Electricity) The connecting end of the cord on an electrical device, having two or three pins, that is inserted into a matching socket to make an electrical connection.
Syn. -- plug. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. See Malpractice. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having the spirit of a male; vigorous; courageous. [ R. ] B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. mallette, dim. of malle. See Mail a bag. ] A little bag or budget. [ Obs. ] Shelton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. See Maltreat. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. malevolentia. See Malevolent. ] The quality or state of being malevolent; evil disposition toward another; inclination to injure others; ill will. See Synonym of Malice. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. malevolens, -entis; male ill + volens, p. pr. of velle to be willing or disposed, to wish. See Malice, and Voluntary. ] Wishing evil; disposed to injure others; rejoicing in another's misfortune. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Ill-disposed; envious; mischievous; evil-minded; spiteful; malicious; malignant; rancorous. [ 1913 Webster ]