daughter
Americannoun
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daughters
plural
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a female child or person in relation to her parents.
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any female descendant.
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a person related as if by the ties binding daughter to parent.
daughter of the church.
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anything personified as female and considered with respect to its origin.
The United States is the daughter of the 13 colonies.
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Chemistry, Physics. an isotope formed by radioactive decay of another isotope.
adjective
noun
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a female offspring; a girl or woman in relation to her parents
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a female descendant
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a female from a certain country, etc, or one closely connected with a certain environment, etc
a daughter of the church
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archaic (often capital) a form of address for a girl or woman
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biology denoting a cell or unicellular organism produced by the division of one of its own kind
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physics (of a nuclide) formed from another nuclide by radioactive decay
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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daughterhoodnoun
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daughterlinessnoun
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daughter-likeadjective
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daughterlessadjective
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daughterlikeadjective
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daughterlyadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of daughter
before 950; Middle English doughter, Old English dohtor; cognate with German Tochter, Greek thygátēr, Sanskrit duhitā
Explanation
A daughter is a female offspring, and while it is usually referring to the female child's relationship to her parents, it might be used to suggest any similar relationship, such as the organization “Daughters of the American Revolution.” The English word daughter appeared before the Tenth Century as the Old English dohtor and later the Middle English doughter. Any connected group of women might be referred to as "daughters," For example, the "daughters of Zion" of the Bible and the "Daughters of Elysium" in Beethoven’s "Ode to Joy" closing to his Ninth Symphony. If people say you are your mother's daughter, aside from pointing out the obvious they are saying the two of you have a lot in common.
Vocabulary lists containing daughter
List 6
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Spelling Practice, Unit 7
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Spelling Practice 1, Unit 8
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The teenager said focusing on the baby daughter who he would never be able to see had helped him pull through.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
When their daughter became Elizabeth I in 1558, she restored Anne’s title and Anne’s image joined the legitimating Tudor lineup that proliferated in the long galleries of Elizabethan and Jacobean England.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
"I came here for a bit of company, my daughter found it on WhatsApp and I've been coming since September last year," he said.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
She had learned her daughter and fellow students were being kept in the school's library.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
Which, as the commander in chief’s daughter, she had.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
They then raised two daughters, both of whom died before her.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Her daughters have both gone on to enjoy success on screen.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Federer even recently brought his family to visit Nadal’s revamped tennis academy in Mallorca, and the two played golf together with Federer’s two teen daughters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
Thatcher’s warbly voice hangs in the air; tales of the Leatherman and lost daughters spinning around your brain as you try to fall asleep.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
They had two daughters, one my age and the other a couple years younger than my eight-year-old sisters.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
