daugh·ter / ˈdôtər; ˈdä-/ • n. a girl or woman in relation to her parents. ∎  a female offspring of an animal. ∎  a female descendant: the daughters of Adam. ∎  a woman considered as the product of a particular person, influence, or environment: a daughter of the savannas. ∎ archaic used as a term of affectionate address to a woman or girl, typically by an older person. ∎ poetic/lit. a thing personified as a daughter in relation to its origin or source: Italian, the daughter of Latin. ∎  Physics a nuclide formed by the radioactive decay of another.• adj. Biol. originating through division or replication: daughter cells.DERIVATIVES: daugh·ter·hood / -ˌhoŏd/ n.daugh·ter·ly adj.ORIGIN: Old English dohtor, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch dochter and German Tochter, from an Indo-European root shared by Greek thugatēr.

daughter OE. dohtor = OS. dohtar (Du. dochter), OHG. tohter (G. tochter), ON. dóttir, Goth. dauhtar :- Gmc. *doχtēr, earlier *dhuktēr :- IE. *dhughətēr, whence also Skr. duhitár-, Av. duγðar, Gr. thugátēr, Arm. dus̆tr, OSl. dŭs̆ti; of unkn. orig.

daughter See CLADISTICS; RADIOACTIVE DECAY.