unisexual

U1N1I1S1E1X8U1A1L1

adjective

Of an organism, having characteristics of a single sex (as opposed to hermaphrodites).

“Most animals are unisexual.”

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RareScrabble 16

Meanings

adjectiveunisexual (not comparable)
  1. not comparableOf an organism, having characteristics of a single sex (as opposed to hermaphrodites).

    Most animals are unisexual.

  2. not comparableOf a species, having only a single (potentially hermaphroditic) sex (as opposed to bisexual).

    The second line of inquiry has to do with the ultimate fate of unisexual species. Are they doomed to more rapid extinction than bisexual species? On the assumption that unisexual populations lack genetic variation, most theoretical studies […]

    1981, Mosaic, page 4
  3. not comparableUnisex; suitable for any sex or gender.

    You may not be familiar with the name or it could be a unisexual name, and some women and men may have first names that are more traditional for the opposite gender.

    2015, Arhlene A. Flowers, Global Writing for Public Relations: Connecting in English with Stakeholders and Publics Worldwide, Routledge, →ISBN, page 433
noununisexual (plural unisexuals)

plural unisexuals

  1. An organism which is unisexual.

    Populations of ambystomatid salamanders on Middle Bass and North Bass Islands in the western basin of Lake Erie consist largely of female unisexuals. On both islands, diploid unisexuals are more abundant than triploid ...

    1978, Floyd L. Downs, Unisexual Ambystoma from the Bass Islands of Lake Erie
    1 more example

    Samples that included both bisexual and unisexual females were obtained from all localities shown in Figure 2 except sites C, J, and O. The proportion of unisexuals in these samples varied from 2% to 94% of the females in a given sample.

    2013, David L.G. Noakes, J.A. Ward, Ecology and ethology of fishes: Proceedings of the 2nd biennial symposium on the ethology and behavioral ecology of fishes, held at Normal, Ill., U.S.A., October 19–22, 1979, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 43

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiverelating to only one sex or having only one type of sexual organ; not hermaphroditic

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Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ís?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁óynos
  3. Proto-Italic*oinos
  4. Old Latinoinos
  5. Latinūnus
  6. Latinūni-
  7. Englishuni-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*sek-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*séks-u-s
  10. Proto-Italic*seksus
  11. Proto-Indo-European*sek-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*sékh₁yeti
  13. Proto-Italic*sekaō
  14. Latinsecō
  15. Latinsecāre?
  16. Latinsexus
  17. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  18. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  19. Latinsexuālis
  20. Englishsexual
  21. Englishunisexual

From uni- + sexual.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian еднополов
  • еднополов (ednopolov)having characteristics of a single sex
Chinese Mandarin 單性的 /单性的
  • 單性的 /单性的 (dānxìng de)having characteristics of a single sex
Czech nedokonalý
  • nedokonalýhaving characteristics of a single sex
Finnish yksineuvoinen
  • yksineuvoinenhaving characteristics of a single sex
French unisexe, unisexuel
  • unisexehaving characteristics of a single sex
  • unisexuelhaving characteristics of a single sex
German eingeschlechtlich
  • eingeschlechtlichhaving characteristics of a single sex
Irish aonghnéasach
  • aonghnéasachhaving characteristics of a single sex
Italian unisessuale
  • unisessualehaving characteristics of a single sex
Japanese 単性の
  • 単性の (tansei no)having characteristics of a single sex
Polish jednopłciowy
  • jednopłciowyhaving characteristics of a single sex
Portuguese unissexuado, unissexual
  • unissexuadohaving characteristics of a single sex
  • unissexualhaving characteristics of a single sex
Russian однопо́лый
  • однопо́лый (odnopólyj)having characteristics of a single sex
Spanish unisexual (biol.)
  • unisexual (biol.)having characteristics of a single sex
Tagalog sansariin
  • sansariinhaving characteristics of a single sex
Ukrainian одностате́вий
  • одностате́вий (odnostatévyj)having characteristics of a single sex
Cite this entry
APA

unisexual. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unisexual

MLA

“unisexual.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unisexual. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unisexual,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unisexual.

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