- Aspidium athamanticum
- Male Male, a. [F. m[^a]le, 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]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
