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:
Donna Ganger, the mother of Good, said her daughter should still be alive.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
In the end, Hannah-Jones’ daughter succeeded against the odds, landing in a great test-in school.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
In June 2023, the couple welcomed their daughter, Athena, via surrogate.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
“My daughter wants French butter as a souvenir—really!” the Florida mall manager wrote in a Facebook group for Paris travel tips.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
She was the granddaughter of a provincial governor and the daughter of a highly respected attorney and judge.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
The woman browsed through old photos of her daughters, their old school projects and other files forgotten over time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
The Hungarian Eszter Csillag has her tiny daughters, who greet her at each finish line.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
“Your daughters are at Dowlatabad Prison. You can book an appointment to see them,” the caller told her.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
It would not come close to covering the cost of higher education in India, or even a course at the coaching centre where one of her daughters is preparing for a government recruitment examination.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
They worked for many years to earn enough to marry the farmers’ daughters.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
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.
