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:
Brown is survived by a 1-year-old daughter, Carter told the California Post.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
And since things take a turn for the medical, Duffy’s oldest daughter, Evita, and her husband, Wisconsin Republican congressional candidate Michael Alfonso, enlist an ultrasound tech to reveal their unborn child’s gender.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
His daughter Lilibet was born in the US in 2021.
From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026
Leigh Ann Margolin, 50, of Goleta, Calif., whose teenage daughter bought tickets to indie-pop trio AJR at Red Rocks Amphitheatre through StubHub in June:
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
Leah didn’t nurse her new husband, instead, she summoned her daughter, Lizzie, from Illinois to care for him.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Jarron’s two daughters are playing for Harvard-Westlake and a son is in eighth grade.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
They would remain together until Cannom’s death, having three daughters together.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
Her daughters didn't emerge for almost three weeks.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
Playing in front of her two daughters was cited as her main motivation, while she said winning matches was "not important" as she placed an emphasis on "having fun".
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
He’d always insisted that daughters were as good as sons.
From "Rickshaw Girl" by Mitali Perkins
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.
