INTERSEX

hermaphrodite, intersex, gynandromorph, androgyne, epicene, epicene person

(noun) one having both male and female sexual characteristics and organs; at birth an unambiguous assignment of male or female cannot be made

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

intersex (plural intersexes)

Any of a variety of innate conditions (in a dioecious species) whereby an individual has sex characteristics which differ from those of a typical male and female; for example, the state of having physical features of both male and female sexes; intersexuality.

(biology, zoology) An individual with any of these conditions.

Usage notes

• Since about the turn of the millennium (2000), the adjective intersex and noun phrase intersex person have been preferred to hermaphroditic and hermaphrodite as being more appropriate when the referent is human. The noun intersex has also become more common than intersexuality.

Adjective

intersex (not comparable)

(of an individual) Having an intersex condition.

Synonyms

• intersexed

• intersexual

• (sometimes offensive): hermaphroditic, hermaphrodite

• (clinical, sometimes offensive): pseudohermaphroditic, pseudohermaphrodite

• (on forms and documents): indeterminate, X

Antonyms

• dyadic

• endosex

Verb

intersex (third-person singular simple present intersexes, present participle intersexing, simple past and past participle intersexed)

(nonstandard) To make intersex.

Synonym: intersexualize

Source: Wiktionary



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