sex

• sexe (archaic)
• s*x (censored)

• enPR: sĕks, IPA^(key): /sɛks/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛks
• Homophones: secs, sects (some accents)

From Middle English sexe (“sex [distinction between male and female] and gender”), from Old French sexe (“genitals; gender”), from Latin sexus (“gender; gender traits; males or females; genitals”), from Proto-Italic *seksus, from Proto-Indo-European *séksus, from *sek- (“to cut, cut off, sever”), thus meaning "section, division" (into male and female).

Usage for women influenced by Middle French le sexe (“women”) (attested in 1580). Usage for third and additional sexes calqued from French troisième sexe, referring to masculine women in 1817 and homosexuals in 1847. First used by Lord Byron and others in English in reference to Catholic clergy. Usage for sexual intercourse first attested in 1899 (in the writings of H. G. Wells).^[1]

sex (countable and uncountable, plural sexes)

2. (countable) A category into which sexually-reproducing organisms are divided on the basis of their reproductive roles in their species; the system of such categories, which can differ by organism or by taxonomic branch.

   Hypernyms: category, class

   Coordinate term: gender

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

   • 1918, Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution:

     The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

   • 1994, Valerie Harms, Uc Rodale Nat Aud Enviro, page 268:

     I would never have guessed […] that slime molds can have thirteen sexes.

   • 2025 June 18, Samantha Riedel, “In Trans Legal Victory, Federal Judge Blocks Trump Admin From Denying Passport Gender Changes”, in Them‎^[1]:

     The State Department and current Secretary of State Marco Rubio are expressly directed under the injunction to “to process and issue passports [...] consistent with the State Department’s policy as of January 19, 2025,” and to allow passport applicants to self-declare their gender even if that information is “different from the sex assigned to those individuals under the [Trump] Passport Policy.”

4. (countable) Another category, especially of humans and especially based on sexuality or gender roles.
   • 1791 (date written), Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1792, →OCLC:

     Still there are some loop-holes out of which a man may creep, and dare to think and act for himself; but for a woman it is an herculean task, because she has difficulties peculiar to her sex to overcome, which require almost super-human powers.

   • 1817, The works of Claudian, tr. into Engl. verse by A. Hawkins, page 43:

     "But now another sex, in arms, is brought, / And, realms to guard, are eunuchs able thought!"

   • 1821 August 8, [Lord Byron], Don Juan, Cantos III, IV, and V, London: […] Thomas Davison, […], →OCLC, canto V, stanza XXVI:

     A black old neutral personage / Of the third sex stept up.

   • 1992, United States Naval Institute Proceedings, volume 118, page 23:

     I have encountered officers who believe a woman got a better assignment or somehow "got over" because of her sex.

6. (countable) The members of such a category, taken collectively.
   • 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes, section 774:

     It was a weakness / In me, but incident to all our sex.

   • 1780, Jeremy Bentham, Introduction to the Principles of Morals & Legislation, vi, §35:

     The sensibility of the female sex appears […] to be greater than that of the male.

8. (uncountable) The distinction and relation between these categories, especially in humans; gender.
   • 2005 November 11, Guardian, section 18:

     A lot of women now like men to pay for them on dates... We've dealt with the outdated view of sex underpinning this.

10. (obsolete or literary, uncountable, with "the") Women; the human female gender and those who belong to it.
    • 1789 November 3, Arthur Young, Travels... undertaken with a view of ascertaining the cultivation... of the kingdom of France, i, 220:

      The sex of Venice are undoubtedly of a distinguished beauty.

    • c. 1840, George Nelson, Reminiscenses:

      I was not, however, better than my neighbors; the Sex had its charms for me as it had for others; But there always remained a sting, that time only wore away.

    • 1862, [William] Wilkie Collins, chapter IV, in No Name. […], volume II, London: Sampson Low, Son, & Co., […], →OCLC, 4th (Aldborough, Suffolk), page 195:

      Even the reptile temperament of Noel Vanstone warmed under the influence of the sex: he had an undeniably appreciative eye for a handsome woman, and Magdalen's grace and beauty were not thrown away on him.

12. (uncountable) Sexual activity, usually sexual intercourse unless preceded by a modifier. [from 1899]^[1]

    Hyponyms: see Thesaurus:sexual activity

    • 1899, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “In the Raphael Gallery”, in Love and Mr. Lewisham: The Story of a Very Young Couple, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC, page 144:

      We marry in fear and trembling, sex for a home is the woman's traffic, and the man comes to his heart's desire when his heart's desire is dead.

    • 1929, D.H. Lawrence, Pansies, section 57:

      If you want to have sex, you've got to trust / At the core of your heart, the other creature.

    • 1934, translation of the Qur'an (23:5) by Abdullah Yusuf Ali

      (The believers ... those ... ) who abstain from sex

    • 1962 June 7, The Listener, 1006/2:

      Why wasn't Bond ‘more tender’ in his love-making? Why did he just ‘have sex’ and disappear?

    • 1990, House of Cards, season 1, episode 3:

      It wouldn't work with you... Sex, I mean. You're... easy to be with. You're... you're not dangerous. You're my best friend, John. I couldn't have it on with my best friend, John. It would be embarrassing. Sorry. Honest.

14. (countable, euphemistic or slang) Genitalia: a penis or vagina/vulva.
    • 1664, Thomas Killigrew, Princess, ii, ii:

      Another ha's gon through with the bargain... One that will find the way to her Sex, before you'le come to kissing her hand.

    • 1938, David Gascoyne, Hölderlin's Madness, section 18:

      And the black cypresses strained upwards like the sex of a hanged man.

    • 1993, Catherine Coulter, The Heiress Bride, page 354:

      She touched his sex with her hand.

    • 2003 March 2, Daily News, New York, section 2:

      And he put in a fake sex (penis) because he wanted to make the scene more real, more rude.

• Sometimes, sex and gender are distinguished.

• (divisions of organisms by reproductive role): gender (proscribed when referring to humans: see usage note)
• (copulation): See also Thesaurus:copulation

• See species

• (usual): See male and female
• (in some contexts): See bigender, transgender, genderless, intersex, genderfluid, homosexual, eunuch
• (jocular, now uncommon): See clergy

• → Dutch: seks
• → German: Sex
• → Japanese: セックス (sekkusu)
• → Korean: 섹스 (sekseu)
• → Thai: เซ็กส์ (sék)

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

1. (zoology, transitive) To determine the sex of (an animal).
   • 1878 January 19, Spirit of the Times, 659/2:

     If we sex the cattle, which is the only way to get at their value, we shall have... 400 cows, 200 yearling heifers.

   • 1996 December 1, W. Wickler, K. Lunau, “How Do East African Bush Shrikes Laniarius funebris Recognize Male and Female Tutors During Gender Dialect Development?”, in Naturwissenschaften, volume 83, →DOI, pages 579b–c:

     If, in fact, in L. funebris there is no sex marker on the song elements themselves, then a young bird must be able to sex its tutor. The same is true if the individuals were predisposed to produce the total vocabulary of any population, or of both sexes in their own population, and then under experience had to suppress a sex-specific subset of that repertoire [7]. It seems unrealistic to assume the reverse, that a parent bird can sex by some hidden cues newly hatched sexually monomorphic offspring and direct its own vocabulary to consexual young only.

   • 2007, Clive Roots, Domestication‎^[2], page 75:

     The ability to sex birds invasively through laparoscopy initially solved that problem, but now it is even easier and less stressful on the birds through testing the DNA of their feathers or blood.

   • 2013, David J Patterson, Michael T. Smith, Beef Heifer Development, An Issue of Veterinary Clinics: Food Animal Practice,, Elsevier Health Sciences, →ISBN:

     Semen usually is sexed at 90% accuracy, and the sexes of calves at birth almost always are in that statistical range if averaged over […]

2. (chiefly US, colloquial, transitive) To have sex with.
   • 2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 102:

     As good as Muddah had handled me in bed, sexing her hadn't done a damn thing to take my mind off my cousin Smoove.

   • 2007, Mickey Hess, Icons of hip hop : an encyclopedia of the movement, music, and culture. 2, Greenwood Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 427:

     He shows some glimpses, but most of the released singles are about flossing, partying, and sexing women.

   • 2009, HoneyB, Single Husbands, Grand Central Publishing, →ISBN:

     Sex with Ivory had gotten better than sexing his wife. Herschel laughed with Ivory, cried with Ivory. They dreamt aloud together. Unlike Nikki, Ivory believed in him. Every man needed a woman who believed in him.

   • 2012, Janice Jones, His Woman, His Wife, His Widow, Urban Books, →ISBN:

     "Do you ever think about how you're betraying your client while you're sexing his wife?"

   • 2014, Jerrold S. Greenberg, Clint E. Bruess, Sara B. Oswalt, Exploring the Dimensions of Human Sexuality, Jones & Bartlett Publishers, →ISBN, page 731:

     Wosick-Correa, K. R., 81 Joseph, L. J. Sexy ladies sexing ladies: Women as consumers in strip clubs. Journal of Sex Research, 45, 3 (July 2008), 201-216.

   • 2014, Anya Nicole, Judgment Day, Urban Books, →ISBN:

     His body shook uncontrollably as he imagined another man sexing his wife.

   • 2015, Pimpin' Ken, The Art of Human Chess: A Study Guide to Winning, →ISBN, page 117:

     The last thing a jealous husband wants to think about is another man sexing his wife when he's dead and gone.

   • 2016, Nisa Santiago, Killer Dolls - Part 3, Melodrama Publishing, →ISBN:

     Sexing his wife anally would remind him of having sex with Baron.

   • 2019, Michael Jean Nystrom-Schut, Foundations of Philosophy: The Basics of the Balance (Volume Iil), AuthorHouse, →ISBN:

     The neighbor guy, I just came to understand, is sexing the lady across the street from him. He's got a girlfriend. She is married. While I don't think that is particularly cool, I also don't think it is any of my business either.

3. (chiefly US, colloquial, intransitive) To have sex.
   • 1921 August 20, Kenneth Burke, letter to Malcolm Cowley:

     Our baby is eighteen months old now, and cries when we sex

• (to have sex): do it, get it on, have sex; see also Thesaurus:copulate

• missex
• resex
• sex up

• “sex, n.¹”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• “sex, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

From sect.

sex (plural sexes)

1. (obsolete) Alternative form of sect.

• “sex, n.²”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• Raymond Williams (1983), “Sex”, in Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society, revised American edition, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, published 1985, →ISBN, page 283

• Xes, exs., sXe

• sexus (rare)

Borrowed from Latin sexus.

• IPA^(key): [ˈsɛks]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sex

sex m inan

1. sex (sexual intercourse)

   Synonym: soulož

• “sex”, in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech)
• “sex”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “sex”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

From English sex.

• Homophone: seks

sex c

1. (uncountable) Sexual intercourse, sex.

• analsex
• gruppesex
• oralsex
• sexet (adjective)

• seksualitet c
• seksuel (adjective)

sex m (uncountable, no diminutive)

1. (proscribed) alternative spelling of seks

• Certain magazines use sex instead of seks, since the correct spelling is regarded more neutral and official, and the other more exciting.

Icelandic numbers ^(edit)

	60
←  5	6	7  →
Cardinal: sex     Ordinal: sjötti     Ordinal abbreviation: 6.

From Old Norse sex, from Proto-Germanic *sehs.^[1] Cognates include Faroese seks and Danish seks.

• IPA^(key): [sɛks], [sɛxs]

  Rhymes: -ɛks, -ɛxs

• (regional) IPA^(key): [sɛɣs]

sex (indeclinable)

1. six

• sexa

Borrowed from English sex, from Middle English sexe, from Old French sexe, from Latin sexus.^[1]

• IPA^(key): [sɛks]

  Rhymes: -ɛks

sex n (genitive singular sex, nominative plural sex)

1. sex, sexual intercourse

From Latin sex, from Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs (“six”).

sex

1. six

Latin numbers ^(edit)

	60
←  5	VI 6	7  →
Cardinal: sex     Ordinal: sextus     Adverbial: sexiēs, sexiēns, sextō     Proportional: sexuplus, sextuplus, sexcuplus     Multiplier: sexuplex, sextuplex, sexcuplex, sēplex, secuplex     Distributive: sēnus     Collective: sēniō     Fractional: sextāns

• Symbol: VI, IIIIII

From Proto-Italic *seks, from Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs.

Cognates include Sanskrit षष् (ṣaṣ), Old Armenian վեց (vecʻ), Ancient Greek ἕξ (héx), and Old English six (English six).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈsɛks]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈsɛks]

sex (indeclinable)

1. six; 6
   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 2.5:

     Ibi praesidium ponit et in altera parte fluminis Q.Titurium Sabinum legatum cum sex cohortibus relinquit;

     Over that river was a bridge: there he places a guard; and on the other side of the river he leaves Quintus Titurius Sabinus, his legate, with six cohorts.

   • 8 CE, Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.17–18:

     haec super inposita est caeli fulgentis imago, signaque sex foribus dextris totidemque sinistris

     Above these was placed an image of the shining sky, and six signs [of the zodiac] on the doorways to the right and the same number on the left.

   • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate Exodus.16.26:

     sex diebus colligite in die autem septimo sabbatum est Domino idcirco non invenietur

     Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.

• Appendix:Latin cardinal numerals

• sex in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• sex in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• sex in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly

From Latin sex.

• (Old Lombard) IPA^(key): [ˈseʒ]

sex

1. (Old Lombard) six

• Lombard: ses, sees

sex

1. sex
   • a. 1382, Bible (Wycliffite), Genesis, Chapter vi, Verse 19:

     Of all þingez hauyng soule of eny flesch: two þou schalt brynge in to þe ark, þat male sex & female […]

     Of all living things of any flesh, you will bring two into the ark, that of the male sex and female […]

sex

1. alternative form of sax

sex

1. alternative form of six

From English sex, from Latin sexus.

sex m (definite singular sexen, uncountable)

1. sex (sexual intercourse)

• sexliv

• “sex” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “sex” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

From English sex, from Latin sexus.

sex m (definite singular sexen, uncountable)

1. sex (sexual intercourse)

• sexliv

• “sex” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• IPA^(key): /seks/

sex n (Late West Saxon)

1. alternative form of seax (“shortsword, dagger, knife”)

Old Frisian numbers ^(edit)

←  5	6	7  →
Cardinal: sex

From Proto-Germanic *sehs.

sex

1. six.

• North Frisian:

  Föhr-Amrum, Mooring and Wiedingharde: seeks

  Helgoland: sös

  Sylt: soks

• Saterland Frisian: säks
• West Frisian: seis

Old Norse numbers ^(edit)

	60[a], [b], [c]
←  5	6	7  →
Cardinal: sex     Ordinal: sétti     Multiplier: sexfaldr

• sjax — broken form

From Proto-Germanic *sehs, whence also Old English six (English six), Old Frisian sex, Old Saxon sehs, 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), Old Armenian վեց (vecʻ), Ancient Greek ἕξ (héx).

sex

1. (cardinal number) six

• Icelandic: sex
• Faroese: seks
• Norn: siks
• Norwegian Bokmål: seks
• Norwegian Nynorsk: seks
• Old Swedish: sæx, siæx
  • Swedish: sex
• Old Danish: sæx, ᛋᛁᛆᚼᛋ, siahs
  • Danish: seks
• Elfdalian: sjäks
• Old Gutnish: siex
  • Gutnish: siex, sex

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), “sex”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive

Pennsylvania German cardinal numbers

<  5	6	7  >
Cardinal : sex     Ordinal : sext

• sechs

Compare German sechs, Dutch zes, English six.

• IPA^(key): /sɛk͡s/

sex

1. six

Borrowed from Latin sexus.

• IPA^(key): /seks/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eks

sex n (plural sexe or sexuri)

1. gender, sex
2. sex, sexual intercourse

• The common plural form is sexe; sexuri is regional.

• sexul slab
• sexul tare

sex

1. alternative form of sax

• “sex, num., n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, retrieved 23 May 2024, reproduced from William A[lexander] Craigie, A[dam] J[ack] Aitken [et al.], editors, A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue: […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1931–2002, →OCLC.
• “six, num. adj, n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, retrieved 23 May 2024, reproduced from W[illiam] Grant and D[avid] D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.

Derived from English sex, from Latin sexus.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛks/

sex m inan (genitive singular sexu, nominative plural sexy, genitive plural sexov, declension pattern of dub)

1. sex (intercourse, sexual activity)

• sexi, sexy (adjective)
• sexuálny (adjective)
• sexuálne (adverb)
• sexuálnosť f

• “sex”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2026

Swedish numbers ^(edit)

	60
←  5	6	7  →
Cardinal: sex     Ordinal: sjätte     Ordinal abbreviation: 6:e     Multiplier: sexfaldig     Collective: halvdussin     Fractional: sjättedel

• IPA^(key): /sɛks/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone: säcks (in accents that don't distinguish short e and ä)

Inherited from Old Swedish sæx, siæx, from Old Norse sex, from Proto-Germanic *sehs, from Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs (“six”).

sex

1. six

• noll, ett, två, tre, fyra, fem, sex, sju, åtta, nio, tio, elva, tolv

Borrowed from English sex, from Latin sexus.

sex n (uncountable)

1. sex (intercourse, sexual activity)

   att ha sex ― to have sex

• samlag
• könsumgänge
• ligg
• nyp
• knull
• pök
• älskog

• penis
• vagina
• könsliv
• sexualkunskap (“sex education”)
• blommor och bin

• sex in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• sex in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• sex in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
• Fula Ordboken

Borrowed from Russian цех (cex), from Polish cech, from Middle High German zëch(e); see modern German Zeche.

sex (plural sexlar)

1. shop, section (of a factory)