1. One's female child.
2. A female descendant.
3. A woman considered as if in a relationship of child to parent: a daughter of the nation.
4. One personified or regarded as a female descendant: "Culturally Japan is a daughter of Chinese civilization" (Edwin O. Reischauer).
5. Physics. The immediate product of the radioactive decay of an element.

1. Possessing the characteristics of a daughter; having the relationship of a daughter.
2. Biology. Of or relating to a cell, organelle, or other structure produced by division or replication: daughter cell; daughter DNA.
3. Physics. Produced by or resulting from the decay of a radioactive element: daughter atom; daughter nuclide.

[Middle English doughter, from Old English dohtor.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.