gender

gen-der · noun

imported

Definitions

noun

  1. 1.

    The socially constructed roles, behaviors, and identities associated with being male, female, or non-binary; distinct from biological sex.

  2. 2.

    The state of being male, female, or another identity.

  3. 3.

    (grammar) A classification of nouns as masculine, feminine, or neuter in some languages.

Forms

plural: genders

Phrases & expressions

  • •
    gender equality — equal rights and opportunities regardless of gender
  • •
    gender identity — a person's internal sense of their own gender
  • •
    gender roles — social expectations based on perceived gender
  • •
    gender neutral — not specific to any gender

Related words

See also: feminine, identity, masculine, sex
Synonyms: sex

Etymology

From Old French gendre, from Latin genus ("kind, type, birth"), from the root gen- ("to produce"). Originally used mainly as a grammatical term, the social meaning became prominent in the 20th century.