gender
Syllables: gen·der/ˈd͡ʒɛndə//ˈd͡ʒɛndɚ/
gender noun: class; kind.
Noun (1)
gender (countable and uncountable, plural genders)
- Class; kind.
- […]plant nettles or sow lettuce, set hyssop and weed up thyme, supply it with one gender of herbs or distract it with many[…]c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
- Synonyms:
- genre
- Sex (a category, either male or female, into which sexually-reproducing organisms are divided on the basis of their reproductive roles in their species).
- the gene is activated in both genders
- The effect of the medication is dependent upon age, gender, and other factors.
- Identification as a man, a woman, or something else, and association with a (social) role or set of behavioral and cultural traits, clothing, etc; a category to which a person belongs on this basis. (Compare gender role, gender identity.)
- I am a cross-dresser by pleasure and inclination, a transgenderal person. To me for human beings to express themselves along gender lines is a wonderful and uniquely human phenomena.1979 January 8, Merissa Sherrill Lynn, “Statement”, in Newsletter, number 7, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1
- Gender is the sociocultural designation of biobehavioral and psychosocial qualities of the sexes; for example, woman (female), man (male), other(s) (e.g., berdaches²). Notions of gender are culturally specific and depend on the ways in which cultures define and differentiate human (and other)...1989, Sue-Ellen Jacobs, Christine Roberts, “Sex, Sexuality, Gender, and Gender Variance”, in Sandra Morgen, editor, Gender and Anthropology: Critical Reviews for Research and Teaching, Washington...
- A division of nouns and pronouns (and sometimes of other parts of speech) into masculine or feminine, and sometimes other categories like neuter or common, and animate or inanimate.
- The pronominal declension [of English], on which we will focus most of our attention, inflects pronouns for person, number, case, gender, animacy, and reflexivity.1990, Edwin L. Battistella, Markedness: The Evaluative Superstructure of Language, →ISBN, page 73
- In Algonquian languages, given the full morphology of a noun, one can predict whether it belongs to the animate or inanimate gender […]1991, Greville G. Corbett, Gender, →ISBN, pages 22 and 65
- Synonym of voice (“particular way of inflecting or conjugating verbs”).
- 143. […] We have now to speak of the following eight particulars relating to verbs: Gender or Sort, Person, Number, Time, Mode, Participle, Gerund, and Supine. [...]
- 1st.--Of the Gender.
- 144. Gender means the same as sort or kind. There are four principal Sorts of Verbs; namely, Active verbs, Passive verbs, Neuter verbs, and Impersonal verbs.1835, James Paul Cobbett, A Latin Grammar for the Use of English Boys: Being an Explanation of the Rudiments of the Latin Language, London, page 111
- Synonyms:
- voice
- The quality which distinguishes connectors, which may be male (fitting into another connector) and female (having another connector fit into it), or genderless or androgynous (capable of fitting together with another connector of the same type).
- Connectors are identified by gender. When copper pins are exposed in the connector, its gender is male.2015, Ron Carswell, Shen Jiang, Mary Ellen Hardee, Guide to Parallel Operating Systems with Windows 10 and Linux, page 10
Verb (1)
gender (third-person singular simple present genders, present participle gendering, simple past and past participle gendered)
- To assign a gender to (a person); to perceive as having a gender; to address using terms (pronouns, nouns, adjectives...) that express a certain gender.
- In an interview, he even noted that he "dressed, acted and thought like a man" for years, but his coworkers continued to gender him as female (Shaver 1995, 2).2011, Kristen Schilt, Just One of the Guys?: Transgender Men and the Persistence of Gender Inequality, page 147
- To perceive (a thing) as having characteristics associated with a certain gender, or as having been authored by someone of a certain gender.
- At the same time, however, the convictions they held about how a woman or man might write led them to interpret their findings in a rather androcentric fashion, and to gender the text accordingly.1996, Athalya Brenner, A Feminist Companion to the Hebrew Bible in the New Testament, page 191
- Like every Western culture preceding it, Renaissance society was gendered to the advantage of the adult male, who served as the template for all of humankind, women and children having been misstamped for other uses.1997, Cheryl Glenn, Rhetoric Retold, page 120
Adjective
gender (comparative more gender, superlative most gender)
- Evoking positive feelings regarding gender, like gender euphoria or gender envy.
- This outfit I'm wearing feels gender as hell. It's incredible that I get to look this hot.
- miles [Morales] is so gender and the embodiment of a little guy I just want to give him a hug2021 July 6, @chromaticamber, Twitter, archived from the original on 31 Aug 2024
Verb (2)
gender (third-person singular simple present genders, present participle gendering, simple past and past participle gendered)
- To engender.
- […] Abraham had two ſonnes, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman, was borne after the fleſh: but hee of the freewoman, was by promiſe. Which things are an Allegorie; for theſe are the two Couenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to...1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Galatians 4:22–24 and 26, signature [S4], verso, column 2
- […] being a stranger to those restrictions which were afterwards laid on his posterity by the Mosaic law, and which gendered a servile frame of spirit.1854, Robert Gordon (D.D., Minister of the Free High Church, Edinburgh.), Christ as Made Known to the Ancient Church: an Exposition of the Revelation of Divine Grace, as Unfolded in the Old Testament...
- To breed.
- Yee ſhall keepe my Statutes: Thou ſhalt not let thy cattel gender with a diuerſe kinde: Thou ſhalt not ſowe thy field with mingled ſeed: Neither ſhall a garment mingled of linnen and woollen come vpon thee.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Leviticus 19:19, signature [L5], recto, column 2
- They are nearly round, a little flattish on one side, which lies next the bottom of the sea; and they are from one to eight inches thick. They crawl up into shallow water at particular seasons of the year, probably for the purpose of gendering, as we often find them in pairs.1838, [Edgar Allan Poe], The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC
Noun (2)
gender (plural genders)
- An Indonesian musical instrument resembling a xylophone, used in gamelan music.
gender meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
gender in Hindi
- biological sex
- लिंग liṅg
- grammar: division of nouns and pronouns
- लिंग liṅg
gender in Tamil
- biological sex
- பால் pāl
- identification as a man, a woman, or something else
- பாலினம் pāliṉam
- grammar: division of nouns and pronouns
- பால் pāl
gender in Marathi
- biological sex
- लिंग liṅga
- grammar: division of nouns and pronouns
- लिंग liṅga
gender in Urdu
- biological sex
- جِنْس jins, لِن٘گ liṅg
- grammar: division of nouns and pronouns
- جِنْس jins, لِن٘گ liṅg
More languagesFewer languages
- gender in Bengali
- লিঙ্গ liṅgo
- gender in Telugu
- లింగము liṅgamu
- gender in Malayalam
- ലിംഗം liṅgaṁ
- gender in Kannada
- ಲಿಂಗ liṅga
- gender in Punjabi
- ਲਿੰਗ liṅg
- gender in Gujarati
- લિંગ liṅg
- gender in Odia
- ଲିଙ୍ଗ liṅga
- gender in Sanskrit
- लिंग liṅga
- gender in Assamese
- লিঙ্গ liṅgo
- gender in Nepali
- लैङ्गिकता laiṅgikatā
- gender in Pashto
- جنس jens
- gender in Tagalog
- kasarian
- gender in Arabic
- جِنْس jins, جِندر, هَوِيَّة جِنْسِيَّة, هَوِيَّة جِنْدريّة
- gender in Malay
- jantina, jenis
- gender in Indonesian
- jenis, jenis kelamin
- gender in Thai
- เพศ pêet, ลิงค์ ling
- gender in Vietnamese
- giới tính, giống
- gender in Myanmar
- လိင် ling
Examples of gender in a sentence
- Gender does not necessarily have primacy in this respect.2004, Wenona Mary Giles, Jennifer Hyndman, Sites of violence: gender and conflict zones, page 28:
- Gender is the sociocultural designation of biobehavioral and psychosocial qualities of the sexes; for example, woman (female), man (male), other(s) (e.g., berdaches²).1989, Sue-Ellen Jacobs, Christine Roberts, “Sex, Sexuality, Gender, and Gender Variance”, in Sandra Morgen, editor, Gender and...
- In the latest development, seeing gender as a power process also directs our attention toward the politics of identity, or the formation and claiming of collective subjectivities.1998, Ching Kwan Lee, Gender and the South China Miracle, University of California Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 23:
- One wife I met at a conference was in a hurry for her husband to have the genital surgery because she worried about his gender and genitals not matching if he were in a car accident, […]2007, Helen Boyd, She's Not the Man I Married: My Life with a Transgender Husband, →ISBN, page 93:
Synonyms of gender
Forms of gender
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | genders |
| alternative abbreviation | g. |
| alternative form | gendèr |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | genders |
| present participle | gendering |
| past participle | gendered |
| past | gendered |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more gender |
| superlative | most gender |
Origin of gender
From Middle English gendre, borrowed from Old French gendre, borrowed from Latin genere (“type, kind”). Doublet of genre and genus. The verb developed after the noun. Displaced native Old English hād (“sex, gender”).
Inherited from Middle English gendren, from Middle French gendrer, from Latin generāre.
Borrowed from Indonesian gender.
Words formed from gender
- agender
- all-gender
- ambigender
- anti-gender
- antigender
- antigenderism
- antigenderist
- autigender
- bigender
- biogender
- catgender
- cisgender
- cis-gender
- cogender
- common gender
- crossgender
- demigender
- doggender
- fourth gender
- genderable
- gender-affected
- gender affirmation surgery
- gender-affirming
- gender-affirming surgery
- genderal
- gender asterisk
- gender baiting
- gender-baiting
- gender-balanced
- genderbend
- gender-bender
- gender bender
- genderbending
- gender binary
- gender-binary
- gender-blind
- gender blind
- genderbread person
- gender budgeting
- gender card
- gender changer
- gendercide
- gender cleavage
- gender confirmation surgery
- gender continuum
- gender-critical feminism
- gender-critical feminist
- gender critical
- gender-critical
- gender diverse
- gender dysphoria
- gender-dysphoric
- gendered
- gender envy
- genderer
- gender euphoria
- gender-expansive
- gender expression
- genderfae
- gender-flip
Phrases with gender
- gender gap
- gender gaps
- gender role
- gender star
- gender swap
- ipso gender
- same gender
- gender cards
- gender hoard
- gender queer
- gender roles
- gender stars
66 more phrasesFewer phrases
- gender swaps
- gender vague
- legal gender
- third gender
- gender hoards
- gender mender
- gender reveal
- gender theory
- neuter gender
- gender benders
- gender menders
- gender neutral
- gender reveals
- gender studies
- natural gender
- gender binaries
- gender changers
- gender fluidity
- gender identity
- gender ideology
- gender minority
- gender asterisks
- gender criticals
- gender panembung
- gender dysphorias
- gender identities
- gender ideologies
- gender minorities
- gender neutrality
- gender panembungs
- gender transition
- gender expressions
- gender inclusivity
- gender recognition
- gender transitions
- grammatical gender
- same gender loving
- gender incongruence
- gender presentation
- gender reassignment
- gender recognitions
- gender mainstreaming
- gender nonconforming
- gender nonconformity
- gender presentations
- gender reassignments
- play the gender card
- gender non-conforming
- trans someone's gender
- gender identity disorder
- gender identity syndrome
- transed someone's gender
- transes someone's gender
- gender identity disorders
- transing someone's gender
- gender realignment surgery
- gender reallocation surgery
- gender reassignment surgery
- gender affirmation surgeries
- rapid onset gender dysphoria
- rapid-onset gender dysphoria
- gender confirmation surgeries
- gender reallocation surgeries
- gender recognition certificate
- gender is between your ears, not between your legs
- sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts
Words that rhyme with gender
- render
- tender
- bender
- surrender
- transgender
- pretender
- defender
- descender
- engender
- ascender
- fender
- attender
24 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about gender
- What does gender mean?
- Gender means class; kind.
- What is gender in Hindi?
- Gender in Hindi is लिंग (liṅg). See Gender meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use gender in a sentence?
- Gender does not necessarily have primacy in this respect.
- What part of speech is gender?
- Gender can be a noun, a verb or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce gender?
- Gender is pronounced /ˈd͡ʒɛndə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of gender?
- The plural of gender is genders.
Words near gender in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: gender (page history and authors); లింగము (Telugu) (page history and authors); ലിംഗം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ಲಿಂಗ (Kannada) (page history and authors); ਲਿੰਗ (Punjabi) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-gender.wav, En-us-gender.oga.
Cite this entry: “gender.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gender. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.