daughter

[daw-ter] /ˈdɔ tər/
noun
1.
a female child or person in relation to her parents.
2.
any female descendant.
3.
a person related as if by the ties binding daughter to parent:
daughter of the church.
4.
anything personified as female and considered with respect to its origin:
The United States is the daughter of the 13 colonies.
5.
Chemistry, Physics. an isotope formed by radioactive decay of another isotope.
adjective
6.
Biology. pertaining to a cell or other structure arising from division or replication:
daughter cell; daughter DNA.
Origin
before 950; Middle English doughter, Old English dohtor; cognate with German Tochter, Greek thygátēr, Sanskrit duhitā
Related forms
daughterless, adjective
daughterlike, adjective
Examples from the web for daughters
  • A series of antiphonal remarks are provided by the daughters of jerusalem.
  • She seemed to pay more attention to him that any of her four daughters.
  • She has two daughters, moulin and drumlin, and a mechanical bodyguard.
  • He is also a widower, left to singlehandedly take care of his three daughters.
  • What is important is that our daughters and sons reach their full potential.
  • Fujiwara daughters were thus the usual empresses and mothers of emperors.
  • The mother is considered the queen and the daughters are workers.
  • A portion of the expense was advanced by the daughters of the builder, mrs.
  • Along with her daughters, the stepmother employed the daughter in all the housework.
  • Many current party officials are the sons and daughters of prominent party officials.
British Dictionary definitions for daughters

daughter

/ˈdɔːtə/
noun
1.
a female offspring; a girl or woman in relation to her parents
2.
a female descendant
3.
a female from a certain country, etc, or one closely connected with a certain environment, etc: a daughter of the church, related adjective filial
4.
(often capital) (archaic) a form of address for a girl or woman
modifier
5.
(biology) denoting a cell or unicellular organism produced by the division of one of its own kind
6.
(physics) (of a nuclide) formed from another nuclide by radioactive decay
Derived Forms
daughterhood, noun
daughterless, adjective
daughter-like, adjective
daughterliness, noun
daughterly, adjective
Word Origin
Old English dohtor; related to Old High German tohter daughter, Greek thugatēr, Sanskrit duhitá
Word Origin and History for daughters

daughter

n.

Old English dohtor, from Proto-Germanic *dochter, earlier *dhukter (cf. Old Saxon dohtar, Old Norse dottir, Old Frisian and Dutch dochter, German Tochter, Gothic dauhtar), from PIE *dhugheter (cf. Sanskrit duhitar-, Avestan dugeda-, Armenian dustr, Old Church Slavonic dušti, Lithuanian dukte, Greek thygater). The common Indo-European word, lost in Celtic and Latin (Latin filia "daughter" is fem. of filius "son"). The modern spelling evolved 16c. in southern England. Daughter-in-law is attested from late 14c.

daughters in the Bible

This word, besides its natural and proper sense, is used to designate, (1.) A niece or any female descendant (Gen. 20:12; 24:48; 28:6). (2.) Women as natives of a place, or as professing the religion of a place; as, "the daughters of Zion" (Isa. 3:16), "daughters of the Philistines" (2 Sam. 1:20). (3.) Small towns and villages lying around a city are its "daughters," as related to the metropolis or mother city. Tyre is in this sense called the daughter of Sidon (Isa. 23:12). (4.) The people of Jerusalem are spoken of as "the daughters of Zion" (Isa. 37:22). (5.) The daughters of a tree are its boughs (Gen. 49:22). (6.) The "daughters of music" (Eccl. 12:4) are singing women.