Derived from the root meaning 'to suckle,' this adjective designates the female sex in distinction from the male. In the New Testament it appears in foundational statements about God's creation of humanity as 'male and female' (Matt 19:4; Mark 10:6) and in Paul's vision of equality in Christ where 'there is neither male nor female' (Gal 3:28). It also describes the unnatural exchange of female relations in Rom 1:26-27. The consistent rendering across languages—Spanish 'hembra,' French 'femelle,' German 'weiblich'—reflects its straightforward biological sense.