The term "girlfriend" has various meanings in different contexts, regions and communities. Sometimes, the term literally means a friend of the female gender. The plural form of the term is used to describe a group of female friends, while the singular is used to denote close friends of the female gender. Depending on the age of the person using the term, it is possible the term has no romantic connotations. For example, a seven-year-old boy can have a number of girlfriends, without any notions of "breakup," "ex-girlfriend," and so on. However, during adolescence and beyond, depending on the gender of the person using the term, "girlfriend" can even employed to indicate a fianc