gender

noun gen·der \ ˈjen-dər \

Updated on: 21 Apr 2018

Definition of gender

1 a : a subclass within a grammatical class (such as noun, pronoun, adjective, or verb) of a language that is partly arbitrary but also partly based on distinguishable characteristics (such as shape, social rank, manner of existence, or sex) and that determines agreement with and selection of other words or grammatical forms

b : membership of a word or a grammatical form in such a subclass

c : an inflectional form (see inflection 3a) showing membership in such a subclass

2 a : sex

the feminine gender

b : the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex

See gender defined for English-language learners

See gender defined for kids

Examples of gender in a Sentence

Please state your name, birth date, and gender.
The adjective and noun must agree in number and gender.
Some languages do not use genders.

Recent Examples of gender from the Web

In fact, well over 100 years after Susan B. Anthony, a stubborn gender gap in cycling remains.

— eben weiss, Outside Online, "Are We Living in the Golden Age of Cycling?," 17 Apr. 2018
The chart here, assembled from data collected by the National Science Foundation, traces the gender gap at the doctoral level for 56 nations.

— Scientific American, "How Nations Fare in PhDs by Sex [Interactive]," 11 Apr. 2018
Equal Pay Day — which in 2018 falls on Tuesday, April 10 — is an annual time to reflect on the persistence of the gender wage gap.

— olivia b. waxman, Time, "5 of Modern History's Most Persistent Myths About the Gender Wage Gap," 10 Apr. 2018
The UK’s requirement is one of the first countrywide attempts at using public transparency and accountability as a bludgeon against the stubborn gender wage gap.

— bryce covert, The New Republic, "What the U.S. Can Learn from Britain on Equal Pay," 10 Apr. 2018
The National Committee on Pay Equity started Equal Pay Day to raise public awareness of the gender wage gap.

— monica rhor, Houston Chronicle, "Equal Pay Day highlights gender wage gap," 10 Apr. 2018
The gender wage gap has widened by a penny in Maryland over the past two years, with women in the state typically paid 84 cents for every dollar paid to men, according to a study released Monday.

— lorraine mirabella, baltimoresun.com, "Women in Maryland earn 84 cents for every dollar earned by men," 9 Apr. 2018
Japan ranked 114th in the World Economic Forum’s global gender gap index last year.

— miho inada, WSJ, "Wrestling With Gender Roles: Women Can Now Enter a Sumo Ring to Save a Man’s Life," 5 Apr. 2018
The gender pay gap in Britain is just over 18 percent, down from 27.5 percent in 1997, according to official data.

— liz alderman, New York Times, "Britain Aims to Close Gender Pay Gap With Transparency and Shame," 4 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gender.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.