Etymology of the French word femelle
the Old French word
femellederived from the Latin word
femella (young woman, girl)
derived from the Latin word
femina (woman; female)
using the Proto-Indo-European prefix
dhēi-using the Latin suffix
-ella (diminutive for feminine nouns)
Date
The earliest known usage of femelle in French dates from the 12th century.
Derivations in French
fémelotDerivations in other languages
English
female, Romanian
femelăCognates
Provençal
femelUsage
Word found in Old French
