Etymology

sex

S1E1X8

Today it means: A category into which sexually-reproducing organisms are divided on the basis of their reproductive roles in their species; the system of such categories, which can differ by organism or by taxonomic branch. Full definition →

First used 1899Middle English sexe ← Old French sexe ← Latin sexus
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sex · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*sek-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*séks-u-s
  3. Proto-Italic*seksus
  4. Proto-Indo-European*sek-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*sékh₁yeti
  6. Proto-Italic*sekaō
  7. Latinsecō
  8. Latinsecāre?
  9. Latinsexus
  10. Old Frenchsexe
  11. Middle Englishsexe
  12. English todaysex

From Middle English sexe (“sex [distinction between male and female] and gender”), from Old French sexe (“genitals; gender”), from Latin sexus (“gender; gender traits; males or females; genitals”), from Proto-Italic *seksus, from Proto-Indo-European *séksus, from *sek- (“to cut, cut off, sever”), thus meaning "section, division" (into male and female). Displaced native Old English hād (“sex, gender”). Usage for women influenced by Middle French le sexe (“women”) (attested in 1580). Usage for third and additional sexes calqued from French troisième sexe, referring to masculine women in 1817 and homosexuals in 1847. First used by Lord Byron and others in English in reference to Catholic clergy. Usage for sexual intercourse first attested in 1899 (in the writings of H. G. Wells).

sex · noun2

From sect.

Words from the same roots

Latinsexus all →

sexuo-

First known use, by meaning

  • from 1899 Sexual activity, may be understood to be sexual intercourse unless preceded by a modifier.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.