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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

homosexual.

Sexually and/or romantically attracted to members of the same sex, such as a man who is attracted to other men or a woman who is attracted to other women; gay. (Typically used in the sense of sole/exclusive attraction.)

10 characters4 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˌhɒməʊˈsɛksjuːəl//ˌhɒməʊˈsɛkʃuːəl//ˌhəʊməʊˈsɛksjuːəl//ˌhəʊməʊˈsɛkʃuːəl/
  1. Sexually and/or romantically attracted to members of the same sex, such as a man who is attracted to other men or a woman who is attracted to other women; gay. (Typically used in the sense of sole/exclusive attraction.)

    formal
    No, it wouldn't make a difference if the applicant was homosexual.
  2. Between two people of the same sex; gay.

    formal
    Most western countries have repealed laws against homosexual activity between consenting adults.
  3. Intended for or used by homosexuals, as a nightclub, a bar, etc.

    dated
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sem- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *somHós Proto-Hellenic *homós Ancient Greek ὁμός (homós)der. German homo- 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. German sexual German homosexualbor. English homosexual Borrowed from German homosexual, from homo- (“same”) + sexual (“relating to sex or sexuality”), coined by Karl Maria Kertbeny in 1868, and popularized in Richard von Krafft-Ebing's Psychopathia Sexualis (2nd ed. 1887, in German) and Charles Gilbert Chaddock's 1892 English translation thereof (compare bisexual), displacing the slightly older term Uranian. Equivalent to homo- + -sexual.

noun/ˌhɒməʊˈsɛksjuːəl//ˌhɒməʊˈsɛkʃuːəl//ˌhəʊməʊˈsɛksjuːəl//ˌhəʊməʊˈsɛkʃuːəl/
  1. A person who is sexually attracted solely or primarily to others of the same sex.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sem- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *somHós Proto-Hellenic *homós Ancient Greek ὁμός (homós)der. German homo- 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. German sexual German homosexualbor. English homosexual Borrowed from German homosexual, from homo- (“same”) + sexual (“relating to sex or sexuality”), coined by Karl Maria Kertbeny in 1868, and popularized in Richard von Krafft-Ebing's Psychopathia Sexualis (2nd ed. 1887, in German) and Charles Gilbert Chaddock's 1892 English translation thereof (compare bisexual), displacing the slightly older term Uranian. Equivalent to homo- + -sexual.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

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