In electrical and mechanical trades and manufacturing, each of a pair of mating connectors or fasteners is conventionally assigned the designation male or female. The assignment is by direct analogy with genitalia and sexual intercourse; the part bearing one or more protrusions, or which fits inside the other, being designated male and the part containing the corresponding indentations or fitting outside the other being female. The article on electrical energy is located elsewhere. ... This article is about devices that perform tasks. ... An electrical connector is a conductive device for joining electrical circuits together. ... A fastener is a hardware device that mechanically joins or affixes two or more objects together. ... Analogy is both the cognitive process of transferring information from a particular subject (the analogue or source) to another particular subject (the target), and a linguistic expression corresponding to such a process. ... A sex organ, or primary sexual characteristic, narrowly defined, is any of those parts of the body (which are not always bodily organs according to the strict definition) which are involved in sexual reproduction and constitute the reproductive system in an complex organism; namely: Male: penis (notably the glans penis... It has been suggested that Duration of sexual intercourse be merged into this article or section. ... This article is about the Male sex. ... For other uses, see Female (disambiguation). ...

An electrical power male plug, left, and matching female socket, of a type common throughout Europe.

A male threaded pipe, left, and female threaded elbow.

The terms "slot", "socket", "receptacle" and "outlet" are often used for "female" connectors, and "plug", "prong" or "pin" for "male" connectors. In many cases these terms are more common than male and female, especially in documentation intended for the non-specialist. It also causes a fair amount of confusion when those names are shortened in labels. For example, the male component of an HD15 connector can be named either HD15M or HD15P (HD15F or HD15S for female versions), both of which mean the same thing but could be confused for different items when there is no accompanying picture. Further confusion can be caused by the term Jack, which is used for both female and male connectors. This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Image File history File links Malefemalepipe. ... Image File history File links Malefemalepipe. ... Fittings are used in pipe and plumbing systems to connect straight pipe or tubing sections, to adapt to different sizes or shapes, and to regulate fluid flow, for example. ... In electronics, a jack is a socket. ...

In electrical connections where voltage is sufficient to cause injury, the part connected to the power source is invariably female, to prevent inadvertent contact. A plug is on the cord of (or on) the device drawing the power. International safety symbol Caution, risk of electric shock (ISO 3864), colloquially known as high voltage symbol. ... Sign warning of possible electric shock hazard An electric shock can occur upon contact of a human or animal body with any source of voltage high enough to cause sufficient current flow through the muscles or nerves. ...

IEEE STD 100 and ANSI Y32.16 define "plug" and "jack" by location or motion, rather than gender. A connector in a fixed location is a jack, and a moveable connector is a plug. The distinction is relative, so a portable radio is considered stationary compared to the cable from the headphones; the radio has a jack, and the headphone cable has a plug. It is common practice to use female connectors for jacks, so the informal gender-based usage often agrees with the functional description of the technical standards. This is not always the case, so it is best to use "male" and "female" for gender, and "plug" and "jack" for function.

In low-voltage use, such as for data communications, this is less important, and male or female connectors are used based on other engineering factors such as convenience of use or ease of manufacturing. For example, the common "patch cables" used for Ethernet hookups (and the similar cords used for telephones) typically have plugs on both ends, to connect to jacks on equipment or mounted in walls. A device called a gender changer may be used to join two connectors of the same gender, for example, to extend one video cable with another. Copy of the original phone of Alexander Graham Bell at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris Telecommunication is the assisted transmission of signals over a distance for the purpose of communication. ... Cat5 patch cable Category 5 cable, commonly known as Cat 5, is a twisted pair cable type designed for high signal integrity. ... Ethernet is a large, diverse family of frame-based computer networking technologies that operate at many speeds for local area networks (LANs). ... For other uses, see Telephone (disambiguation). ... RJ stands for registered jack. ... A gender changer is a hardware device placed between two cable connectors of the same type and gender. ...

The gender of a connector is determined by the structure of its primary functional components — i.e., the conductors of an electrical connector, or the load-bearing parts of a fastener — and not by secondary features such as covers, shields or handles that may be installed for environmental protection, safe operation, etc.

Certain connector designs (such as the SAE connector, and jackhammer air hose connectors) involve paired identical parts each containing both protrusions and indentations. The term hermaphrodite (or hermaphroditic) is used for such devices, along with genderless, combination (and combo), two-in-one, two-way, and others. The SAE connector is a hermaphrodite two-conductor, electrical connector commonly used for automotive applications (also motorcycles). ... This article is about the construction tool. ...

Some connectors have both male and female connectors on opposite sides, designed to be placed between a male and female to intercept a signal or to take power. These may also be referred to as hermaphrodite connectors, or alternately vampire or parasite plugs. These were once used for PC accessories, placed between the output of an AT power supply and a monitor so these accessories would be disconnected from power when the computer was switched off, but are now impractical with the dominance of ATX supplies which lack a mains output socket.

Examples

Male coaxial Type N connector.

• A power cord on a lamp or appliance terminates in a (male) plug; it connects to a (female) socket in a wall or on an extension cord.
• Co-axial cables used for video or other high-frequency signals are normally terminated, at both ends, in a connector comprising an inner pin and an outer fixed or rotating shell; these are conventionally reckoned as male.
• A nut is female and a bolt is male.
• Connectors for air brake hoses on heavy trucks and railroad equipment use genderless "gladhand" connectors. In railroad use, this makes the orientation of rolling stock irrelevant, and is used with the standard North American railroad coupler that connects cars together, also genderless.
• Piping and plumbing fittings

Image File history File links N-Connector. ... Image File history File links N-Connector. ... Type N connector (male) Type N connector (female) Picture to show the similarity between 50ohm and 75ohm N connectors The N connector (in full, Type N connector) is a threaded RF connector used to join coaxial cables. ... Look up Lamp in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Home appliances are electrical/mechanical appliances which accomplish some household functions, such as cooking or cleaning. ... Coaxial cable is an electrical cable consisting of a round, insulated conducting wire, surrounded by an insulating spacer, surrounded by a cylindrical conducting sheath, usually surrounded by a final insulating layer. ... For other uses, see Frequency (disambiguation). ... In information theory, a signal is the sequence of states of a communications channel that encodes a message. ... An RF connector is an electrical connector designed to work at radio frequencies in the multi-megahertz range. ... A nut is a type of hardware fastener with a threaded hole. ... Screws come in a variety of shapes and sizes for different purposes. ... Air brake may refer to the following contexts: Air brake (aircraft) — In aeronautics these are a type of flight control system used on aircraft to reduce speed. ... For other uses, see Truck (disambiguation). ... This is the top-level page of WikiProject trains Rail tracks Rail transport refers to the land transport of passengers and goods along railways or railroads. ... Fittings are used in pipe and plumbing systems to connect straight pipe or tubing sections, to adapt to different sizes or shapes, and to regulate fluid flow, for example. ...

See also

• Screw thread
• Mating connection