sex

1 of 2

noun

1
a
: either of the two major forms of individuals that occur in many species and that are distinguished respectively as female or male especially on the basis of their reproductive organs and structures
In the past, couples could hold fast to their dreams about their baby's sex until the moment of truth in the delivery room.Jacquelyn Mitchard
b
: the sum of the structural, functional, and sometimes behavioral characteristics of organisms that distinguish males and females
Doctors can alter the physical characteristics of sex, but bodily sex does not determine gender.Dinitia Smith
c
: the state of being male or female
… Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on sex.Tamar Lewin
d
: males or females considered as a group
He gave the minister a sly look, daring him to disparage the female sex.Evelyn Anthony
2
a
: sexually motivated phenomena or behavior
3
Are gender and sex the same? Usage Guide

The words sex and gender have a long and intertwined history. In the 15th century gender expanded from its use as a term for a grammatical subclass to join sex in referring to either of the two primary biological forms of a species, a meaning sex has had since the 14th century; phrases like "the male sex" and "the female gender" are both grounded in uses established for more than five centuries. In the 20th century sex and gender each acquired new uses. Sex developed its "sexual intercourse" meaning in the early part of the century (now its more common meaning), and a few decades later gender gained a meaning referring to the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex, as in "gender roles." Later in the century, gender also came to have application in two closely related compound terms: gender identity refers to a person's internal sense of being male, female, some combination of male and female, or neither male nor female; gender expression refers to the physical and behavioral manifestations of one's gender identity. By the end of the century gender by itself was being used as a synonym of gender identity.

Among those who study gender and sexuality, a clear delineation between sex and gender is typically prescribed, with sex as the preferred term for biological forms, and gender limited to its meanings involving behavioral, cultural, and psychological traits. In this dichotomy, the terms male and female relate only to biological forms (sex), while the terms masculine/masculinity, feminine/femininity, woman/girl, and man/boy relate only to psychological and sociocultural traits (gender). This delineation also tends to be observed in technical and medical contexts, with the term sex referring to biological forms in such phrases as sex hormones, sex organs, and biological sex. But in nonmedical and nontechnical contexts, there is no clear delineation, and the status of the words remains complicated. Often when comparisons explicitly between male and female people are made, we see the term gender employed, with that term dominating in such collocations as gender differences, gender gap, gender equality, gender bias, and gender relations. It is likely that gender is applied in such contexts because of its psychological and sociocultural meanings, the word's duality making it dually useful. The fact remains that it is often applied in such cases against the prescribed use.

Usage of sex and gender is by no means settled. For example, while discrimination was far more often paired with sex from the 1960s through the 20th century and into the 21st, the phrase gender discrimination has been steadily increasing in use since the 1980s and is on track to become the dominant collocation. Currently both terms are sometimes employed with their intended synonymy made explicit: sex/gender discrimination, gender (sex) discrimination.

sex

2 of 2

verb

sexed; sexing; sexes

transitive verb

1
: to identify the sex of
sex newborn chicks
2
a
: to increase the sexual appeal of
often used with up
b
: to arouse the sexual desires of

Examples of sex in a Sentence

Noun The couple didn't know what the sex of their baby would be. How do you tell the sex of a hamster? discrimination on the basis of sex Her mom talked to her about sex. She doesn't like all the sex and violence in movies.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
This indicates that Republicans want state law to recognize only biologically male and female sexes, rather than transgender identities. Kayla Dwyer, The Indianapolis Star, 12 Jan. 2024 Most espouse traditional views about the role of women and the sexes. Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 1 Mar. 2024 Cigarette smoking remains the most common cause of lung cancer across sexes, causing 90% of cases in men and 70-80% cases in women. Eva Epker, Forbes, 27 Nov. 2023 That’s according to a new study from King’s College London’s Policy Institute and Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, in partnership with Ipsos U.K., which has uncovered that older men actually have more progressive views of the equality of the sexes than the next generation of men. Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 2 Feb. 2024 The online sensation has been named ’Bowie’ by fans, after rocker David Bowie November 30, 2023 at 8:05 a.m. EST correction A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Bowie the lobster has two genders rather than two sexes. Sydney Page, Washington Post, 30 Nov. 2023 No matter what the New York Times or CNN or 123 signatories on an open letter from university professors say, there are only two sexes, babies in the womb are human beings, and there is no epidemic of police violence against black men, or men of any other skin color for that matter. The Editors, National Review, 16 Oct. 2023 Good Material Dolly Alderton is something of a modern-day Nora Ephron, bringing a fresh and mordant perspective to the eternal struggle between the sexes. Chloe Schama, Vogue, 12 Jan. 2024 Both sexes display a white wing patch in flight, and both fly with legs outstretched past their body. M.d. Johnson, Field & Stream, 10 Jan. 2024
Verb
Don't blame Rafe Lee Judkins and Amazon for sexing the show up, blame Robert Jordan for creating a world where like a third of the characters are polyamorous magicians. Andrew Cunningham & Lee Hutchinson, Ars Technica, 1 Sep. 2023 Then in March, a different star naturally spawned and was sexed as male. City News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Oct. 2023 All woodcock can be aged and sexed by looking at the characteristics of the wing. Matthew Every, Field & Stream, 18 Oct. 2023 But bring the kids anyway to this daftly sexed-up production. Los Angeles Times, 12 Sep. 2019 To make matters all the more thirsty, that poster’s genitalia-like woodlands surround a smooching couple who appear to be a sexed-up version of beastiality tale Beauty and The Beast. Ariana Romero, refinery29.com, 20 Jan. 2020 The preppy East Coast label has collaborated with everyone from Sacai and Supreme to Vetements, but West’s topper was a fresh foil for her typically sexed-up take on sportswear. Edward Barsamian, Vogue, 13 Dec. 2018 Yandy’s ark of offerings is evidence that pretty much any animal can be sexed up, although not all animals are equally alluring. Rachel Sugar, Vox, 26 Oct. 2018 The most sexed-up take on the look saw one guy swaggering down the runway like a cheeky gunslinger. Liana Satenstein, Vogue, 25 Sep. 2018

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

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Latin sexus

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1878, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of sex was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near sex

Cite this Entry

“Sex.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sex. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

sex

1 of 2 noun
ˈseks
1
: either of two groups into which many living things are divided according to their roles in reproduction and which consist of males or females
2
: the physical and behavioral characteristics that make males and females different from each other
3
: sexual activity
especially : sexual intercourse

sex-

2 of 2 combining form
variants or sexi-
: six
sextet
Etymology

Noun

Middle English sex "category of living things according to reproductive roles," from Latin sexus (same meaning)

Combining form

from Latin sex "six"

Medical Definition

sex

1 of 2 noun
1
a
: either of the two major forms of individuals that occur in many species and that are distinguished respectively as male or female especially on the basis of their reproductive organs and structures
In the past, couples could hold fast to their dreams about their baby's sex until the moment of truth in the delivery room.Jacquelyn Mitchard
b
: the sum of the structural, functional, and sometimes behavioral characteristics of organisms that distinguish males and females
Doctors can alter the physical characteristics of sex, but bodily sex does not determine gender.Dinitia Smith
c
: the state of being male or female
Inherited risks refer here to biological vulnerability to illness because of one's sex.Lois M. Verbrugge
2
a
: sexually motivated phenomena or behavior

sex

2 of 2 transitive verb
: to identify the sex of
techniques for sexing human embryos

More from Merriam-Webster on sex

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