bisexualadj.n.
/bʌɪˈsɛkʃʊəl/, /bʌɪˈsɛkʃ(ᵿ)l/, /bʌɪˈsɛksjʊ(ə)l/, U.S. /baɪˈsɛkʃ(əw)əl/ A. adj.
1. Of both sexes; Biology (now chiefly Botany) having both male and female characteristics in the same individual; monoecious or hermaphroditic; (of a flower or other plant reproductive structure) containing both male and female organs.
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the world > life > sex and gender > [adjective] > having characteristics of both sexes
bisexed1605
hermaphroditical1605
epicene1607
hermaphrodite1607
hermaphroditic1631
promiscuousa1637
androgynal1646
masculo-feminine1646
androgynous1651
ambosexous1656
hermaphroditish1764
androgyne1765
bisexual1793
hermaphrodital1823
heautandrous1837
amphigonic1876
intersexual1916
intersex1920
intersexed1921
harumphroditic1924
man-womanly1929
ambosexual1931
bi-gendered1976
1793 Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 3 211 It appears that the urn is a bi-sexual flower, containing a capsule more or less pedunculated, according to the length of the tube.
1815 W. Meeston tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre Harmonies of Nature I. 148 Animals, where the sexes are separate cannot by any means regenerate themselves; while those which come under the description of bi-sexual..are differently circumstanced.
1825 S. T. Coleridge Aids Refl. 252 The very old Tradition of the Homo androgynus, i.e. that the original Man..was bi-sexual.
1847 J. Lindley Veg. Kingdom (ed. 2) 247 The plants..never, or at least very rarely, have bisexual flowers, but consist of species in which the stamens constantly appear so one kind of flower, and the pistil in another.
1887 A. S. Fuller Illustr. Strawberry Culturist 16 It is not at all rare to find bisexual plants the pollen of which will not fertilize their own ovaries.
1979 B. Dehgan & G. L. Webster Morphol. & Infrageneric Relationships Genus Jatropha 21 Anthers are occasionally produced in aberrant bisexual flowers of J. Gossypiipholia but no viable pollen is present.
2003 S. Morhardt & E. Morhardt Calif. Desert Flowers 30 Bisexual and female flowers have a single pistil with an inferior ovary bearing a single ovule.
2. Involving or comprising individuals of both sexes; suitable for or applicable to both men and women.
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1838 Penny Satirist 26 May 4/3 A hospital for the treatment by Mesmerism has..received a death-blow, in consequence of this dangerous bisexual intercourse, one of the fair patients having become enceinte by the director.
1885 Nation 2 Apr. 279/3 The original use of the word bachelor in the college degree goes back to this bi-sexual term in French and Latin.
1918 G. A. Chaquarian tr. S. M. Ohanesian Life's Demand in 20th Cent. ii. h. iii. 479 Bisexual gatherings in the water or on the shore..are liable to create immoral thoughts in the observer.
1963 Jerusalem Post 30 Aug. p. vii This season, most of the high-style clothes have a bi-sexual look. So much so..that..your husband may be borrowing your officer's boots..and military coats.
1999 H. Herzog Gendering Politics i. 28 The first list I compiled included bisexual names (names given to both girls and boys) such as Simha, Yona, Amit, and Tal.
3. Zoology. Of an organism, species, etc.: having distinct male and female individuals in at least part of its life cycle (often contrasted with hermaphroditic). Also: (of reproduction) occurring with fusion of male and female gametes; (of a species, form, etc.) reproducing sexually (often contrasted with asexual or parthenogenetic).
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1842 C. Darwin MS Sketch in Found. Origin of Species (1909) i. 2 All bisexual animals must cross, hermaphrodite plants do cross.
1856 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. V. [116]/2 In all the bisexual Crustacea the ova are fecundated while still within the body of the female parent.
1889 Amer. Naturalist 23 1059 It has been shown by Brooks that bisexual reproduction, by doubling the sources of inheritance, doubles the opportunities for variation of characteristics in descent.
1908 Biol. Bull. 14 383 The occurrence of incipient or occasional hermaphroditism in a few species that are functionally or usually bisexual..is of especial interest.
1937 W. C. Allee & K. P. Schmidt Hesse's Ecol. Animal Geogr. 321 The normal condition of Anodonta in standing water is hermaphroditic while those in flowing waters are bisexual, the transference of the spermatozoa to the eggs being assisted by the current.
2001 G. C. McGavin Essent. Entomol. 143 Theletoky is common, and species in which this occurs tend to have wider distributions than bisexual species.
4. Originally Psychology and Psychoanalysis.
a. Sexually or romantically attracted to people of both sexes; engaging in sexual activity with both men and women.
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the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > bisexuality > [adjective]
bisexual1906
ambisexual1912
ambisextrous1919
omnifutuant1929
bi1957
versatile1959
AC/DC1960
1906 tr. O. Weininger Sex & Character vi. 66 Homo-sexual or bisexual [Ger. bisexuellen] women reveal their maleness by their preference either for women or for womanish men.
1933 Psychoanal. Q. 2 194 He was overtly bisexual and played in his sexual relations to men both the active and the passive rôle.
1979 R. Jaffe Class Reunion iii. ii. 238 It was the Seventies now, and the rock stars and Beautiful People had made it suddenly chic to be bisexual.
1989 Spare Rib Apr. 4/3 We—as women, as feminists, whether heterosexual, lesbian or bisexual—must defend and encourage our own and each others' diversity.
2015 Advertiser (Austral.) (Nexis) 21 Feb. 36 Kate Brown was sworn in as the Democratic governor of Oregon this week, making her the first openly bisexual person to hold such a lofty position in US history.
b. Characterized by sexual or romantic attraction to, or sexual activity with, people of both sexes; involving or relating to bisexual people or bisexuality.
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1907 Jrnl. Mental Sci. 53 178 Even pathological cases may, however, furnish evidence in support of the probably congenital character of the bisexual tendencies.
1954 F. S. Caprio Female Homosexuality i. 14 Dr. George W. Henry.., in his study of forty lesbians found that thirty-two admitted bisexual experiences.
1975 Publishers Weekly 27 Jan. 234/3 Explores the bisexual lifestyle through in-depth interviews with marrieds, singles and ‘separateds’.
1995 M. Garber Vice Versa i. i. 58 Former lesbians who have taken male lovers or who now assert their bisexual identity.
2017 Independent (Nexis) 18 July In 2014, only 0.3 per cent of grants aimed at LGBT issues went toward the bisexual community.
B. n.
1. Biology. A sexually reproducing organism in which there are distinct male and female individuals. Cf. sense A. 3.
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1855 W. Clark Mollusca Testacea 15 All the Pectinibranchiata, with circular multispiral opercula, hitherto considered bisexuals, are like the Helices hermaphrodites with mutual congression.
1977 Science 26 Aug. 837 The two unique features allowing parthenogenetic species to invade and occupy open habitats faster than bisexuals are (i) a double intrinsic rate of increase and (ii) the ability of one individual to establish a new colony.
2012 T. J. Pandian Genetic Sex Differentiation in Fish ii. 17 Of the 30,000 fish species, more than 98% are bisexuals.
2. Biology. An organism having both male and female sexual organs, either simultaneously or during the course of its life cycle. Cf. sense A. 1. Now chiefly Botany.
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the world > life > sex and gender > [noun] > state or condition of having characteristics of both sexes > person or animal
scratc1000
androgyneOE
hermaphroditec1400
scarth?a1513
man-woman1587
she-mana1613
epicene1641
will-jill1677
morphoditea1726
bisexual1879
pseudohermaphrodite1881
harumfrodite1896
sex mosaic1903
intersex1916
intersexual1917
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > flower or flowering plant > [noun] > characterized by parts > characterized by stamens, pistils, or sex of flowers
male1548
hermaphrodite1728
androgyne?1796
gynander1828
monogyn1828
octander1828
pentagyn1828
pentander1828
polyadelph1828
polygam1828
polygamian1828
tetradynamian1828
tetragyn1828
syngenese1836
bisexual1879
1879 Pop. Sci. Monthly Dec. 171 These animals are bisexuals—i. e., have both ovary and spermary perfect, but these are so placed that self-fertilization is impossible.
1986 J. A. Samson Trop. Fruits (ed. 2) x. 261 All are hermaphrodites (bisexuals) with a pear-shaped fruit that weighs about 400 g.
2005 Oikos 111 490/1 Studies that reported data on males, protrandrous [sic] and protogynous bisexuals, and/or hermaphroditic plants were not included in our analyses.
3. Originally Psychology and Psychoanalysis. A person who is sexually or romantically attracted to both men and women; a bisexual person.
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the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > bisexuality > [noun] > person
bisexual1912
switch-hitter1948
bi1957
1912 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 23 318 The subjects belong to the group of bisexuals.
1957 B. Karpman Hangover xv. 465 In the case of Arnold, we find a bisexual with a strong homosexual conflict of which he is at first unconscious.
1970 N. Saunders Alternative London xx. 145 True bi-sexuals, who can have emotionally warm relationships with either sex are very rare.
1988 D. French Working (1991) x. 344 I had, however, had an affair with a bisexual, some years before.
2013 Church Times 12 Apr. 6/3 Only 21 per cent of those surveyed believe that churches are welcoming to gays, lesbians, and bisexuals.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.1793