Adjective

male (not comparable)

1. Belonging to the sex which is generally characterized as having the smaller gametes (for species which have two sexes and for which this distinction can be made) which fertilize the female-produced eggs. [from 14th c.]
2. Pertaining to or associated with men, or male animals. [from 16th c.]
   • 2009, The Guardian, 11 Dec 09:

     "While No Doubt are avid fans of the Rolling Stones and even have performed in concerts with them, the Character Manipulation Feature results in an unauthorised performance by the Gwen Stefani avatar in a male voice boasting about having sex with prostitutes," the band's lawyers alleged.

3. (biology) Inherently characteristic of the male of a species. [from 17th c.]
   • 2009, The Guardian, 11 Sep 09:

     "It's very complex area," said Bowen-Simpkins, a consultant gynaecologist. "The male hormone is what gives bulk to muscles and bones so they are at an advantage."

4. (figuratively) Of instruments or tools: designed to fit into or penetrate a "female" counterpart, as in a connector or pipe fitting. [from 16th c.]

Synonyms

• manly, masculine
• (figuratively) plug, pin

Antonyms

• female
• neuter

Male (♂) refers to the sex of an organism, or part of an organism, which produces small mobile gametes, called spermatozoa. Each spermatozoon can fuse with a larger female gamete or ovum, in the process of fertilization. A male cannot reproduce sexually without access to at least one ovum from a female, but some organisms can reproduce both sexually and asexually.

Not all species share a common sex-determination system. In humans and most animals, sex is determined genetically but in other species it can be determined due to social, environmental, or other factors.

The existence of two sexes seems to have been selected independently across different evolutionary lineages (see Convergent Evolution). The repeated pattern is sexual reproduction in isogamous species with two or more mating types with gametes of identical form and behavior (but different at the molecular level) to anisogamous species with gametes of male and female types to oogamous species in which the female gamete is very much larger than the male and has no ability to move. There is a good argument that this pattern was driven by the physical constraints on the mechanisms by which two gametes get together as required for sexual reproduction.

Accordingly, sex is defined operationally across species by the type of gametes produced (i.e.: spermatozoa vs. ova) and differences between males and females in one lineage are not always predictive of differences in another.

Male/female dimorphism between organisms or reproductive organs of different sexes is not limited to animals; male gametes are produced by chytrids, diatoms and land plants, among others. In land plants, female and male designate not only the female and male gamete-producing organisms and structures but also the structures of the sporophytes that give rise to male and female plants.