intersex
/ˈɪn.təɹ.sɛks/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.92 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of an individual, having any of a variety of inherent conditions (in a species with distinct sexes) in which one's sex characteristics differ from those of a typical male and female; for example, having sex characteristics relating to both male and female sexes.
verb
To make intersex.
Example Sentences
- "His confidentiality was broken, and soon the entire staff and residential population were aware that Jim was intersex. […] we faced the fact that most programs were gender segregated and would not be a safe place for Jim to be known as intersex."
- "When I had learned that I was intersex, I brought this issue to my mother."
- "A survey of 1100 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people by Griffith and Bond University researchers found that the overwhelming majority had been victims of targeted harassment as well as physical and sexual abuse."
- "A Canadian believes that he has solved the diagnostic problem in human intersex. All human cells, says Dr. Murray L. Barr of the University of Western Ontario, contain something called sex chromatin."
- "A much more common condition caused by early exposure of fish larvae to oestrogenic substances is intersex, which in males usually takes the form of ovotestis."
- "Goldschmidt and others who have thought of the homosexual individual as an intersex have relied upon incidence figures which were pure guesses and which, as the data in the present chapter will show, bear little relation to the fact...."
Etymology
Borrowed from German Intersexe. By surface analysis, inter- + sex. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Needs more details, especially the German etymology.”) Doublet of intersect.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɪn.təɹ.sɛks/
- British English: /ˈɪn.tə.sɛks/