homosexuality

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US/ˌhoʊməˌsɛkʃuˈælɪti/US/ˌhoʊmoʊˌsɛkʃuˈælɪti/UK/ˌhəʊmə(ʊ)sɛkʃʊˈælɪti/UK/ˌhəʊmə(ʊ)ˌsɛksjʊˈælɪti/

noun

The state of being sexually and romantically attracted primarily or exclusively to persons of the same sex, sometimes (potentially offensive) restricted to same-sex attraction between males.

Less commonFirst used 1892Scrabble 28

Meanings

nounhomosexuality (uncountable)
  1. uncountableThe state of being sexually and romantically attracted primarily or exclusively to persons of the same sex, sometimes (potentially offensive) restricted to same-sex attraction between males.First known use 1892

    Some of the experts have gone into the question of homosexuality with great care, and advanced sundry learned and scientific theories in regard to that abnormal condition.

    1892 April 2, “Hereditary Insanity: This is What Dr. Comstock Says Alice Mitchell Has”, in Memphis Appeal-Avalanche, Memphis, Tenn., page 1
    3 more examples

    Great diminution or complete absence of sexual feeling for the opposite sex, with substitution of sexual feeling and instinct for the same sex. (Homo-sexuality, or contrary sexual instinct).

    1892, Richard von Krafft-Ebing, translated by Charles Gilbert Chaddock, Psychopathia Sexualis, page 185

    Of the dozen or so surviving articles, squibs, and letters to the editor, the most remarkable appeared in the Whip and Satirist’s February 12, 1842, issue, and disclosed the existence of a cabal of gay men in New York's otherwise wholesome nightscape of brothels and riots. Moreover it identified the spider who minced so delicately along the wide-flung strands of the sodomitical web. "There is not one so degraded as this Captain Collins, the King of the Sodomites." He was a foreigner, an Englishman, in the long tradition of blaming homosexuality on the influence of aliens. Among the syndicate of perverts, the writer announced, "we find no Americans as yet—they are all Englishmen or French" (the English called homosexuality the French vice and the French the English vice; for the Whip it was the French and English vice).

    2005, Mark Caldwell, New York Night, page 133

    The state hierarchizes sexuality by defining homosexuality as an influence that corrupts minors. Such a discourse produces a notion of the correct sexual behavior that transcends into the political realm, reinforcing the heteronationalistic nature of the nation-building.

    2018 January 28, Nikita Sleptcov, “Political Homophobia as a State Strategy in Russia”, in Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective, volume 12, number 1, page 146
  2. uncountableSexual activity with a person of the same sex, sometimes (potentially offensive) restricted to same-sex sex between males.First known use 1897

    A Prussian proposal for a harsh penal code made male homosexuality an even more serious crime.

    2004 June 10, Leslie Feinberg, “The love that dared to speak its name”, in Workers World
    2 more examples

    Bourneville believes that 75 per cent. of the inmates of the Parisian venereal hospitals have practised homosexuality.

    1897, Havelock Ellis et al., Sexual Inversion, page 101

    Third, it is possible to have gay sex with a crew member on your team. This isn’t possible with every crew member—only some, according to their pre-programmed sexual orientation. It’s obvious why this is an issue for Christians. Scripture explicitly says homosexuality is a sin (Genesis 18:20-21; 19:4-5, 24-25; Leviticus 18:22; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 2 Peter 2:4-10). Denying what Scripture says on it is nothing short of joyful ignorance and intellectual dishonesty. Society, conversely, says it’s not a sin, and as such has thrown it into pop culture without a care for whom they offend. Obviously, for the Christian, do not go this route. If you believe homosexuality is a sin (and you should, considering God’s Word is inerrant and infallible and you say you’re a Christian), do not choose a gay romantic route. You may think it’s harmless if you do, but what’s the point in making a confession coherent with Scripture but not living according to that confession? Quite frankly, it’s hypocritical and needs repentance.

    2019 October 31, Garrick Beckett, “Beckett: How BioWare Approaches Religion & Sexuality”, in The Lutheran Column, archived from the original on 17 Sep 2020, Blog

Synonyms & antonyms

Broader
Narrower

nouna sexual attraction to (or sexual relations with) persons of the same sex

Broader
sexual activitysexual practicesex

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Frenchhomosexualité
  2. GermanHomosexualität
  3. Englishhomosexuality

From homosexual + -ity, equivalent to homo- + sexuality and after the model of German Homosexualität, coined by journalist Karl Maria Kertbeny in 1869, and French homosexualité, attested in 1891.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans homoseksualiteit
  • homoseksualiteitsexual orientation
Ancient Greek κιναιδία, ἀρσενοκοιτία
  • κιναιδία (kinaidía)sexual orientation
  • ἀρσενοκοιτία (arsenokoitía)sexual orientation
Arabic مِثْلِيَّة, مِثْلِيَّة جِنْسِيَّة
  • مِثْلِيَّة (miṯliyya)sexual orientation
  • مِثْلِيَّة جِنْسِيَّة (miṯliyya jinsiyya)sexual orientation
  • هُومُوسِكْسُوَالِيَّة (homoseksuwāliyya)sexual orientation
Basque homosexualitate
  • homosexualitatesexual orientation
Bengali সমকামিতা
  • সমকামিতা (śomkamita)sexual orientation
Bulgarian хомосексуа́лност, обратност
  • хомосексуа́лност (homoseksuálnost)sexual orientation
  • обратност (obratnost)sexual orientation
  • мъжеложство (măželožstvo)sexual orientation
  • обра́тна резба́ (obrátna rezbá)sexual orientation
Catalan homosexualitat
  • homosexualitatsexual orientation
Chinese Cantonese 同性戀 /同性恋
  • 同性戀 /同性恋sexual orientation
Chinese Mandarin 同性戀 /同性恋
  • 同性戀 /同性恋 (tóngxìngliàn)sexual orientation
Czech homosexualita
  • homosexualitasexual orientation
Danish homoseksualitet
  • homoseksualitetsexual orientation
Dutch homoseksualiteit
  • homoseksualiteitsexual orientation
Esperanto samseksemo
  • samseksemosexual orientation
Estonian homoseksuaalsus, homoseksualism
  • homoseksuaalsussexual orientation
  • homoseksualismsexual orientation
  • samasooiharussexual orientation
Finnish homoseksuaalisuus, homous
  • homoseksuaalisuussexual orientation
  • homoussexual orientation
  • homoseksualismisexual orientation
French homosexualité
  • homosexualitésexual orientation
German Homosexualität
  • Homosexualitätsexual orientation
Greek ομοφυλοφιλία
  • ομοφυλοφιλία (omofylofilía)sexual orientation
Hebrew הוֹמוֹסֶקְסוּאָלִיּוּת
  • הוֹמוֹסֶקְסוּאָלִיּוּת (homoseksuáliut)sexual orientation
Hindi समलैंगिकता
  • समलैंगिकता (samlaiṅgiktā)sexual orientation
Hungarian homoszexualitás
  • homoszexualitássexual orientation
Icelandic samkynhneigð
  • samkynhneigðsexual orientation
Indonesian homoseksualitas
  • homoseksualitassexual orientation
Irish homaighnéasachas, homaighnéasacht
  • homaighnéasachassexual orientation
  • homaighnéasachtsexual orientation
Italian omosessualità
  • omosessualitàsexual orientation
Japanese 同性愛, ホモセクシャリティ
  • 同性愛 (dōseiai)sexual orientation
  • ホモセクシャリティ (homosekushariti)sexual orientation
Korean 동성애
  • 동성애 (dongseong'ae)sexual orientation
Latin homosexualitas
  • homosexualitassexual orientation
Latvian homoseksualitāte, homoseksuālisms
  • homoseksualitātesexual orientation
  • homoseksuālismssexual orientation
Lithuanian homoseksualumas
  • homoseksualumassexual orientation
Norwegian Bokmål homoseksualitet, homofili
  • homoseksualitetsexual orientation
  • homofilisexual orientation
Persian همجنسگرایی
  • همجنسگرایی (ham-jens-garâyi)sexual orientation
Polish homoseksualizm
  • homoseksualizmsexual orientation
Portuguese homossexualidade, homossexualismo
  • homossexualidadesexual orientation
  • homossexualismosexual orientation
Punjabi ਸਮਲਿੰਗੀ
  • ਸਮਲਿੰਗੀ (samliṅgī)sexual orientation
Romanian homosexualitate, хомосексуалитате
  • homosexualitatesexual orientation
  • хомосексуалитате (homosexualitate)sexual orientation
Russian гомосексуа́льность, гомосексуали́зм
  • гомосексуа́льность (gomosɛksuálʹnostʹ)sexual orientation
  • гомосексуали́зм (gomosɛksualízm)sexual orientation
Scottish Gaelic co-sheòrsachd, fearas-feise
  • co-sheòrsachdsexual orientation
  • fearas-feisesexual orientation
  • banas-feisesexual orientation
Slovak homosexualita
  • homosexualitasexual orientation
Spanish homosexualidad, homosexualismo
  • homosexualidadsexual orientation
  • homosexualismosexual orientation
Swahili ushoga, mapenzi ya jinsia moja
  • ushogasexual orientation
  • mapenzi ya jinsia mojasexual orientation
Swedish homosexualitet
  • homosexualitetsexual orientation
Tagalog homoseksuwalidad
  • homoseksuwalidadsexual orientation
Tamil தன்பாலீர்ப்பு, ஒருபாலீர்ப்பு
  • தன்பாலீர்ப்பு (taṉpālīrppu)sexual orientation
  • ஒருபாலீர்ப்பு (orupālīrppu)sexual orientation
Thai รักร่วมเพศ
  • รักร่วมเพศ (rák-rûuam-pêet)sexual orientation
Turkish eşcinsellik, homoseksüellik
  • eşcinselliksexual orientation
  • homoseksüelliksexual orientation
Ukrainian гомосексуа́льність, гомосексуалі́зм
  • гомосексуа́льність (homoseksuálʹnistʹ)sexual orientation
  • гомосексуалі́зм (homoseksualízm)sexual orientation
Urdu ہم جنس پرستی, ہمجنسیت
  • ہم جنس پرستی (hum jins parasti)sexual orientation
  • ہمجنسیت (hamjinsiyat)sexual orientation
Vietnamese tính tình dục đồng giới, đồng tính luyến ái
  • tính tình dục đồng giớisexual orientation
  • đồng tính luyến áisexual orientation
Welsh cyfunrhywiaeth, gwrywgydiaeth
  • cyfunrhywiaethsexual orientation
  • gwrywgydiaethsexual orientation
Yiddish האָמאָסעקסואַלוטעט
  • האָמאָסעקסואַלוטעט (homoseksualutet)sexual orientation
Zulu isitabane
  • isitabanesexual orientation

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with homosexuality

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

homosexuality. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/homosexuality

MLA

“homosexuality.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/homosexuality. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “homosexuality,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/homosexuality.

Source: homosexuality on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.