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I think people can use the links below to access the Oxford English Dictionary, which is also on our University of Chicago Library site.  I looked up definitions of “woman” and “female” to see what the OED says, as I regard it as the authoritative source of definitions used in everyday parlance.  So here we go, and I’ve put the links so you can check for yourselves.

“woman”

https://www.oed.com/dictionary/woman_n?tab=meaning_and_use#14234972

 

“female” which gives a bit of a tautological definition for the noun usage:

But in the adjectival form, the OED gives a pretty accurate biological definition of “female”, though it adds “the gender identity associated with this sex”.

 

If you don’t like these (and feel free to browse around for definitions that you like better; I’ve given the first ones), complain to the OED, not me!

And, of course, things may change next year.

A numerical error in a scientific paper created alarm around the chemicals in black plastic utensils, but the extent to which they cause harm is up for debate

The success of Chinese firm DeepSeek suggests tech companies can train and run powerful AIs without consuming vast amounts of power

We will never get an image of the Milky Way from above, but M81 or Bode's galaxy is a good stand-in – and now is a great time to see it, says Leah Crane

A provocative new book delves into the way humans – and elephants – evolved to manage risk. We might do better to think more like elephants

The neck is less than 1 per cent of the human body's surface area, but it plays an oversized role in our lives, reveals Kent Dunlap's engaging natural and cultural history

Various projects aim to reestablish lynx as a wild species in the UK after being absent for centuries, but those involved face formidable hurdles, finds Graham Lawton

Feedback is intrigued (and terrified) by a new paper that suggests you could set off a ridiculously gigantic nuclear bomb deep under the seabed to mop up carbon dioxide

Scientists’ ideas for travelling to the stars range from the the wholly improbable to the hugely expensive and very difficult, says Ed Regis

Some animals – and even machines – may turn out to be conscious. Must we wait for scientific certainty before sharing our rights, asks The Moral Circle

US President Donald Trump has pledged to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programmes in government agencies in order to build a “merit-based” society. But psychological research shows that such initiatives can create fairer outcomes, if employed correctly

This startling mechanism for promoting depolymerization relies on an additive that many plastics already contain: a pigment called carbon black that gives plastic its black color. Through a process called photothermal conversion, intense light is focused on plastic containing the pigment to jumpstart the degradation. The lab's method has since been tried out on such post-consumer waste as PVC pipes, black construction pipes, trash bags, credit cards, even those ubiquitous yellow rubber duckies. It works on all of them.

Scientists have made an advancement in the field of electrocatalysis. Their latest research sheds light on how catalysts can stay in unanticipated forms during the process of nitrate reduction. The study offers new insights that could pave the way for more efficient catalyst design.

Researchers have used electron spin resonance technology to observe the state and movement of the charge inside Ruddlesden-Popper tin -based perovskite solar cells, an emerging technology for next-generation solar cells. They have discovered a mechanism that improves the performance of these cells compared with conventional three-dimensional tin-based perovskite solar cells. Their findings signal a great leap forward in the development of high-efficiency, long-lasting solar cells.

This novel finding regarding the nonreciprocal diffraction of acoustic waves could open doors for next-generation communication devices.

This novel finding regarding the nonreciprocal diffraction of acoustic waves could open doors for next-generation communication devices.

Researchers found for the first time evidence that even microquasars containing a low-mass star are efficient particle accelerators, which leads to a significant impact on the interpretation of the abundance of gamma rays in the universe.

Phosphorus is a critical raw material that should be recycled more efficiently. There is also a need for more environmentally friendly production methods for organic phosphorus compounds. A recently published review article examines the potential of green chemistry to contribute to these goals in the production and use of multifunctional phosphorus compounds, phosphonates.

By applying techniques from explainable artificial intelligence, engineers can improve users' confidence in forecasts generated by artificial intelligence models. This approach was recently tested on wind power generation.

Researchers present a solution to the challenging problem of recycling poly-cotton textile waste. The process starts with fully removing all cotton from the fabric using superconcentrated hydrochloric acid at room temperature. The cotton is converted into glucose, which can be used as a feedstock for biobased products such as renewable plastics. The remaining polyester fibers can be reprocessed using available polyester recycling methods.