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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

heterosexual.

Sexually attracted to members of the opposite sex.

12 characters5 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˌhɛtəɹəˈsɛkʃuəl/General-American/ˌhɛtəɹoʊˈsɛkʃuəl/General-American/ˌhɛtəɹəˈsɛkʃuəl/Received-Pronunciation/ˌhɛtɹəˈsɛkʃuəl/Received-Pronunciation

  1. Sexually attracted to members of the opposite sex.

  2. Between two people of different sex.

  3. Having a sexual desire for the opposite sex seen as unhealthy, including a proclivity for nonreproductive sex.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sem- Proto-Indo-European *sḿ̥teros Proto-Hellenic *hə́teros Ancient Greek ἕτερος (héteros)lbor. English hetero- 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 sexus Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin sexuālisbor. English sexual English -sexual English heterosexual From hetero- + -sexual. Earliest citation from 1892, in C.G. Craddock's translation of Krafft-Ebbing's Psychopathia Sexualis.

noun/ˌhɛtəɹəˈsɛkʃuəl/General-American/ˌhɛtəɹoʊˈsɛkʃuəl/General-American/ˌhɛtəɹəˈsɛkʃuəl/Received-Pronunciation/ˌhɛtɹəˈsɛkʃuəl/Received-Pronunciation

  1. A heterosexual person, or other heterosexual organism.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sem- Proto-Indo-European *sḿ̥teros Proto-Hellenic *hə́teros Ancient Greek ἕτερος (héteros)lbor. English hetero- 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 sexus Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin sexuālisbor. English sexual English -sexual English heterosexual From hetero- + -sexual. Earliest citation from 1892, in C.G. Craddock's translation of Krafft-Ebbing's Psychopathia Sexualis.

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Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.