sex
/ˈsɛks/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.22 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
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.
Countable
noun
Another category, especially of humans and especially based on sexuality or gender roles.
Countable
noun
The distinction and relation between these categories, especially in humans; gender.
Uncountable
noun
Sexual activity, may be understood to be sexual intercourse unless preceded by a modifier.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "The effect of the medication is dependent upon age, sex, and other factors."
- "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."
- "I would never have guessed […] that slime molds can have thirteen sexes."
- "The State Department and current Secretary of State Marco Rubio are expressly directed under the injunction to “to process and issue passports [...] consistent with the State Department’s policy as of January 19, 2025,” and to allow passport applicants to self-declare their gender even if that information is “different from the sex assigned to those individuals under the [Trump] Passport Policy.”"
- "Still there are some loop-holes out of which a man may creep, and dare to think and act for himself; but for a woman it is an herculean task, because she has difficulties peculiar to her sex to overcome, which require almost super-human powers."
- ""But now another sex, in arms, is brought, / And, realms to guard, are eunuchs able thought!""
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sek-der. Proto-Indo-European *séks-u-sder. Proto-Italic *seksus Proto-Indo-European *sek- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *sékh₁yeti Proto-Italic *sekaō Latin secō Latin secāre? 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). 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).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈsɛks/
- British English: /ˈsɛks/