gender

noun

gen·der | \ ˈjen-dər

plural genders

Definition of gender

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : 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 sense 3a) showing membership in such a subclass

2a : sex sense 1a the feminine gender

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

c : gender identity Those seeking state driver's licenses in Massachusetts are closer to being able to designate their gender as "X" instead of "male" or "female." The state Senate has overwhelmingly approved a bill that would allow for the nonbinary designation on licenses.— Steve LeBlanc Facebook's message was clear when the social media network added new gender options for users on Thursday: the company is sensitive to a wide spectrum of gender identity and wants users to feel accommodated no matter where they see themselves on that spectrum.— Katy Steinmetz

gender

verb

gendered; gendering\ ˈjen-d(ə-)riŋ

Definition of gender (Entry 2 of 2)

: engender

Examples of gender in a Sentence

Noun

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 on the Web: Noun

According to the World-Herald, Abraham Lincoln High School has a gender-neutral bathroom that anyone is allowed to use. — Lucy Diavolo, Teen Vogue, "Iowa Students Demonstrated for and Against a Trans Classmate's Right to Bathroom Access," 15 Apr. 2019 Creating a gender-neutral space does not mean your entire space needs to be only white or cream. — Taylor Mead, House Beautiful, "How to Design a Gender-Neutral Room That's Anything But Bland," 28 Feb. 2019 Alongside its exhibition program, the museum will host an academic institute focused on gender issues in art and science. — Natalia Rachlin, WSJ, "A New Museum is Putting This Swiss Alps Town on the Map," 12 Dec. 2018 There’s the #MeToo movement, and then there’s just all of this anger at President Trump, some of it related to gender issues, some of it related to other progressive issues more broadly. — Li Zhou, Vox, "The striking parallels between 1992’s “Year of the Woman” and 2018, explained by a historian," 2 Nov. 2018 Almost even more than our gender issue did, that did the year before. — Recode Staff, Recode, "Full transcript: Nat Geo executives Courteney Monroe, Rachel Webber and Susan Goldberg on Recode Decode," 6 July 2018 Like everything that’s been leveraged for votes or ratings (school shootings, gender-neutral bathrooms, talk-show insults), the issues surrounding immigration policy reform are often reduced to red state/blue state rallying cries. — Lorraine Ali, latimes.com, "How TV sounds and images of migrant children overrode the pundits and changed the immigration debate," 21 June 2018 Jolie’s speech highlighted the global necessity for gender equality, particularly in areas facing conflict. — Janelle Okwodu, Vogue, "Angelina Jolie Proves You Don’t Need a Suit to Command Attention at the United Nations," 30 Mar. 2019 Here, Clarke tells BAZAAR.com about repping Dolce & Gabbana’s new scent, saying goodbye to Khaleesi, and promoting gender equality. — Erica Gonzales, Harper's BAZAAR, "For Emilia Clarke, Ending Game of Thrones Was "the Metaphorical Undoing of the Bra"," 12 Mar. 2019

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.