sex

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   Whether a person or animal is male or female, based on their body and reproductive role.

   It doesn't matter what sex you are.

2. 2
   noun

   Physical activity between people for pleasure or reproduction.

   They had decided that they both wanted to have sex.

3. 3
   verb

   To find out whether an animal is male or female.

   The farmer sexed the chicks soon after they hatched.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Sex entered English in the late Middle Ages from Latin sexus and initially referred to the two genders. Its use for sexual activity dates from the start of the 20th century. The verb sex up appeared in the 1940s meaning “make more sexy.”

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sek-der. Proto-Indo-European *séksusder. Proto-Italic *seksus Latin sexusder. Old French sexeder. Middle English sexe English sex 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). Usage for women influenced by Middle French le sexe (“women”) (attested in 1580…

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary