gender identity

noun

: a person's internal sense of being male, female, some combination of male and female, or neither male nor female

Facebook provides more than 50 options beyond "male" and "female" for users to describe their gender identity, from "gender questioning" and "neither" to "androgynous."—

The Chicago Tribune

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web Stitt signed bills last year that prohibit transgender girls and women from playing on female sports teams and prevent transgender children from using school bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity. —

CBS News, 1 May 2023 These fault lines widened as the reopening debates merged into fights over how schools should deal with the teaching of the country’s racial history as well as sexuality and gender identity. —

Jonathan Mahler, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2023 That’s known as misgendering — using pronouns that don’t match a person’s gender identity. —

Amy Beth Hanson And Sam Metz, Chicago Tribune, 24 Apr. 2023 The House bill would bar transgender women and girls from playing on teams corresponding to their gender identity. —

Harold Maass, The Week, 21 Apr. 2023 The political is personal here, with feelings of imperiled bodily autonomy and vigor interweaving dietary, political, and gender identity. —

Jan Dutkiewicz, The New Republic, 17 Apr. 2023 Most districts don’t have a policy in place, and only the Mat-Su school board has adopted rules limiting the participation of transgender athletes in teams that align with their gender identity. —

Sean Maguire, Anchorage Daily News, 14 Apr. 2023 The Women’s Sports Protection Bill, HB261, seeks to ban transgender athletes from playing on intercollegiate or intramural sports teams that align with their gender identity. —

Stryens-fernandes, al, 13 Apr. 2023 Some on the right blamed the massacre on the 28-year-old suspect’s gender identity, including several Franklin community members who spoke out in opposition of the Pride event. —

Matt Lavietes, NBC News, 12 Apr. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gender identity.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1964, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of gender identity was in 1964

See more words from the same year

Dictionary Entries Near gender identity

gender identification

gender identity

gender identity disorder

See More Nearby Entries

Cite this Entry

Style

“Gender identity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gender%20identity. Accessed 28 May. 2023.

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