sex

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

See also sex-, Sex, and Sex.

English

Etymology

1382, from Middle French sexe < Latin sexus (“‘gender’”). Thought to be connected with Latin seco, secare (“‘divide, cut’”) by the concept of division, or 'half' of the race. Akin to section. Meaning "sexual intercourse" first attested 1929 (in writings of D.H. Lawrence).

Pronunciation

enPR: sĕks, IPA: /sɛks/, SAMPA: /sEks/
Audio (US)^{help, file}

Rhymes: -ɛks
Homophones: secs

Noun

Singular
sex

Plural
countable and uncountable; plural sexes

sex (countable and uncountable; plural sexes)

(countable) Either of two main divisions (either male or female) into which many organisms can be placed, according to reproductive function or organs; gender.

What sex is that hamster?

The abnormality is found in both sexes.
(uncountable) The distinguishing property, quality, or assemblage of properties by which organisms are classified as female or male on the basis of their reproductive organs and functions; the set of properties by which male is distinguished from female.

The effect of the medication is dependent upon age, sex, and other factors.

The researchers divided the subjects by sex.
(uncountable) Sexual intercourse; the act of sexual intercourse.

All you ever think about is sex.

We had sex in the back seat.
(euphemism) Genitalia; a penis or vagina.
(dated, with the definite article) the sex. Women; womankind. Also, the fair sex, the fairer sex, the whimsical sex.
- 1759, Laurence Sterne, The Life & Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, chapter 1, Google Books
  
  ...unless it was with his sister-in-law, my father's wife and my mother,—my uncle Toby scarce exchanged three words with the sex in as many years...
- 1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Dying Detective, paragraph 2, Google Books
  
  He disliked and distrusted the sex, but he was always a chivalrous opponent.

Synonyms

(kind of an organism as determined by its reproductive organs): gender, sexuality
(sexual intercourse): coitus, sexual intercourse; see WikiSaurus:sexual intercourse

Derived terms

Terms derived from the noun "sex"

Related terms

Translations

act of sexual intercourse

Arabic: تسافد ar(ar) (tasāful) m., جماع ar(ar) (jimāʻ) m., مجامعة ar(ar) (mujāmʻa) f., سيكس ar(ar) (seks) m.
Armenian: սեքս hy(hy) (sek’s), սեռական հարաբերություն hy(hy) (seṙakan haraberut’yun)
Bosnian: seks bs(bs) m.
Bulgarian: секс bg(bg) (seks) m.
Cantonese: 性交 (sing3 gaau1)
Catalan: sexe m.
Chinese: 性交 (xìngjiāo), 性欲 (xìngyù)
Croatian: seks hr(hr) m.
Czech: soulož cs(cs) f., styk cs(cs) m., pohlavní styk cs(cs) m.
Danish: sex, kønsliv, seksualliv, seksuel omgang, samleje, erotik
Dutch: seks nl(nl) m., geslachtsgemeenschap nl(nl) m., vrijen nl(nl) n.
Finnish: seksi fi(fi)
French: rapports sexuels fr(fr) m. pl.
Georgian: სექსი ka(ka)
German: Sex de(de) m., Geschlechtsverkehr de(de) m.
Greek: συνουσία el(el) f., γενετήσια πράξη el(el) (genetḗsia práksi) f., ερωτική επαφή el(el) (erōtikḗ epafḗ) f., σεξ el(el) (sex) n.
Gujarati: મૈથુન gu(gu) (maithun), સેક્સ gu(gu) (seks)
Hebrew: יחסי מין ^(he) (yakhaséy mín) (literally: sexual relations) m. pl., מין ^(he) (mín) m., סקס ^(he) (séks) m.
Hindi: मैथुन hi(hi) (maithun)
Hungarian: szex hu(hu)
Italian: sesso it(it) m.
Japanese: 性交 ja(ja) (seikō), セックス ja(ja) (sekkusu)

Korean: 성교 ko(ko) (性交, seonggyo), 성행위 ko(ko) (性行爲, seonghaengwi), 성관계 ko(ko) (性關係, seonggwan-gye), 섹스 ko(ko) (sekseu)
Kurdish: seks, guhnelî, perîn, cotbûn, têkiliyên zayendî, (vulgar) gan
Lithuanian: seksas lt(lt) m.
Malayalam: ലൈംഗികബന്ധം (laimgika bandham), സംഭോഗം (sambhogam), മൈഥുനം (maithhunam)
Marathi: कामजीवन mr(mr)
Norwegian: sex no(no) m., samleie no(no) n., samlega no(no) f.
Old English: hǣmed ang(ang), leġertēam ang(ang), wīfġemāna ang(ang)
Persian: همخوابگی (ham-khaabegy)
Polish: seks pl(pl) m.
Portuguese: sexo pt(pt) m., transa pt(pt) f.
Romanian: relaţii sexuale ro(ro) f. pl.
Russian: секс ru(ru) (seks) m.
Serbian:

Cyrillic: секс sr(sr) (seks) m.

Roman: seks sr(sr) m.
Slovak: súlož sk(sk) f.
Spanish: relaciones sexuales es(es) f. pl., sexo es(es) m., (attributive) sexual es(es) m. and f.
Swahili: ngono sw(sw)
Swedish: sex sv(sv) n.
Tagalog: pagtalik, kantot (vulgar)
Tamil: பாலுறவு ta(ta), உடலுறவ ta(ta)
Telugu: సంభోగము (saMbhOgamu), మైధునము (maidhunamu), రతి (rathi)
Turkish: cinsel ilişki tr(tr), seks tr(tr)
Ukrainian: любощі (ljúbošči) pl.

male or female division into which many organisms can be placed

Arabic: جنس (jins)
Armenian: սեռ hy(hy) (seṙ)
Bosnian: pol bs(bs) m.
Bulgarian: пол (pol) m.
Catalan: sexe m.
Chinese: 性別, 性别 (xìngbié)
Czech: pohlaví cs(cs) n.
Danish: køn da(da)
Dutch: geslacht nl(nl) n., sekse nl(nl) f.
Finnish: sukupuoli fi(fi)
French: sexe fr(fr) m.
German: Geschlecht de(de) n.
Greek: φύλο (filo) n., γένος (genos) n.
Hebrew: מין ^(he) (mín) m., מגדר ^(he) (migdár) (literally: gender)
Hungarian: nem hu(hu)
Interlingua: sexo
Irish: gnéas ga(ga)
Italian: sesso it(it) m.
Japanese: 性別 ja(ja) (seibetsu)
Korean: 성 ko(ko) (seong)
Kurdish: zayend ku(ku), cins ku(ku), cinsiyet ku(ku)

Lao: ລິງ lo(lo) (ling), ເພດ lo(lo) (pheet)
Latin: sexus la(la) m.
Malayalam: ലിംഗം (limgam)
Norwegian: kjønn n.
Novial: sexu
Persian: جنسیت (jensi-yat)
Polish: płeć pl(pl) f.
Portuguese: sexo pl(pl) m.
Romanian: sex ro(ro) n.
Russian: пол ru(ru) (pol) m.
Scottish Gaelic: gnè gd(gd) f.
Serbian:

Cyrillic: пол sr(sr) (pol) m.

Roman: pol sr(sr) m.
Slovak: pohlavie sk(sk) n.
Spanish: sexo es(es) m., género es(es) m.
Swedish: kön sv(sv) n.
Tagalog: kasarian
Telugu: లింగము (liMgamu)
Turkish: cinsiyet tr(tr)
Ukrainian: стать (stat’) f.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Breton: reizh (1,2,3)
Indonesian: seks (2), jenis kelamin (1)

Verb

Infinitive
to sex

Third person singular
sexes

Simple past
sexed

Past participle
sexed

Present participle
sexing

to sex (third-person singular simple present sexes, present participle sexing, simple past and past participle sexed)

(zoology) To determine the biological sex of an animal.

It is not easy to sex lizards.
(colloquial) To have sex with.

The passionate lovers sexed each other every night.

OK, so I'm sexin' her, right, and all I can think of is this other girl.

Translations

to determine the sex of

Danish: kønsbestemme
Dutch: geslacht bepalen
German: das Geschlecht bestimmen, sexen

Lithuanian: mylėtis
Spanish: sexar
Swedish: könsbestämma

informal: to have sex with

Danish: bolle, have samleje med
Dutch: vrijen, de liefde bedrijven
Finnish: rakastella fi(fi)
Hebrew: לקיים יחסים ^(he) (lekayém yakhasím) (literally: to have relations), לזיין ^(he) (lezayén) (vulgar)

Japanese: セックスする (sekkusu-suru)
Russian: заниматься сексом с (zanimát’s’a séksom s)
Swedish: knulla, ha samlag med, bola (archaic)

Danish

Etymology

From English sex.

Noun

sex c.

(uncountable) sexual intercourse

Derived terms

sexet a

Related terms

seksualitet c.
seksuel a

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse sex.

Pronunciation

IPA: [sɛks]
IPA: [sɛxs]
IPA: [sɛɣs] (regional)

Rhymes: -ɛks

Number

sex (cardinal, indeclinable)

six; the cardinal number after fimm (“‘five’”) and before sjö (“‘seven’”).

Related terms

sjötti (ordinal)

Derived terms

Latin

**Latin cardinal numbers**
< V	VI	VII >
Cardinal : sex Ordinal : sextus Adverbial : sexiēs Distributive : sēnī
Latin Wikipedia article on sex

Alternative forms

Symbol: VI

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs. Cognates include Sanskrit षष् (ṣaṣ), Armenian վեց (vec'), Ancient Greek ἕξ (heks), and Old English siex (English six).

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA: /seks/

Numeral

sex (indeclinable)

(cardinal) six; 6

Descendants

Asturian: seis
Catalan: sis
French: six
Galician: seis
Italian: sei

Neapolitan: séje
Portuguese: seis
Romanian: şase
Spanish: seis

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *seks, whence also Old English siex (English six), Old Frisian sex, Old Saxon seks, Middle Dutch sesse (Dutch zes), Old High German sehs (German sechs), Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍃 (saihs). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs, cognate with Sanskrit षष् (ṣaṣ), Armenian վեց (vets), Ancient Greek ἕξ (heks).

Number

sex

six

Descendants

Danish: seks
Faroese: seks
Icelandic: sex

Norwegian: seks
Swedish: sex

Romanian

Etymology

Latin sexus

Noun

sex n. (plural sexe or sexuri)

gender, sex

Declension

declension of sex

	singular		plural
gender n.	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
Nominative/Accusative	un sex	sexul	nişte sexe	sexele
Genitive/Dative	unui sex	sexului	unor sexe	sexelor
Vocative	—	—	—	—

Derived terms

Noun

sex n.

sex, sexual relations

Slovak

Noun

sex m. (declension pattern dub)

sex (intercourse, sexual activity)

Swedish

Pronunciation

audio^{help, file}

Etymology 1

From Old Norse sex.

Cardinal number

sex

(cardinal) six

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From English sex.

Noun

sex

sex (intercourse, sexual activity)

sex

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents

English

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Synonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

See also

Translations

Danish

Etymology

Noun

Derived terms

Related terms

Icelandic

Etymology

Pronunciation

Number

Related terms

Derived terms

Latin

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Numeral

Descendants

See also

Old Norse

Etymology

Number

Descendants

Romanian

Etymology

Noun

Declension

Derived terms

Noun

Slovak

Noun

Swedish

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Cardinal number

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Noun

Views

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