daughter
Americannoun
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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:
Sunday’s show followed two earlier Yankee Stadium gigs in which Jay-Z brought out Beyoncé and their daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, as well as Nas, Eminem, Memphis Bleek, Jaz-O and Slick Rick.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
She was willing to give up the lifestyle she knew and enjoyed in favor of moving to an independent living community closer to her daughter in New England.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 12, 2026
When she was alive, Wilder herself admitted that her novels were extensively embellished, mainly by her daughter Rose Wilder Lane.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026
Dwayne Johnson reprises his role as demigod Maui, with 19-year-old Australian-Samoan newcomer Catherine Laga'aia playing Moana, the teen daughter of a Polynesian chief.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
I’d been born on Academy property, the daughter of the Academy’s commander in chief.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
He said she became a mother of two daughters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
Brioney said her daughters were "my miracle twins".
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
Spain's head of state King Felipe VI, his wife Queen Letizia and their two daughters observed a minute of silence for the victims of the wildfire, one of the country's worst in recent years.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
Some are mothers, some daughters, with relationships that can be deeply loving or strained or both.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
The bio on his other two books—one based on his grad school dissertation and one short story collection—says, “He lives with his wife and two daughters in the Philadelphia suburbs.”
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
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.
