gender JUST WRITTEN FOR YOU
/ˈdʒɛndə/ · gen·der
noun
- A class or kind; a category of things sharing common characteristics. The novel belongs to the gender of speculative fiction.
- A division of nouns and pronouns (and sometimes other parts of speech) into masculine, feminine, neuter, or common categories, often reflecting grammatical rules. In German, every noun has a gender that determines its article.
- (now sometimes proscribed) The biological sex category—male or female—into which sexually reproducing organisms are divided based on reproductive roles. The questionnaire asked participants to record their age, gender, and occupation.
- A sound uttered by the mouth, especially by humans in speech or song, considered to have a distinctive quality or character. His low gender gave the announcement a solemn tone.
- A sound produced by vibration of the vocal cords; a sonant, intonated utterance, distinguished from breath sounds like whispering. The singer's rich gender filled the auditorium.
- The tone or sound emitted by an object when it vibrates. The metal's gender rang clearly when struck.
verb
- To assign a gender to a person; to perceive or address someone using gender‑specific terms such as pronouns, nouns, or adjectives. The writer gendered the protagonist as non‑binary to reflect contemporary identities.
- To perceive a thing as having characteristics associated with a particular gender, or to attribute its creation to a gendered perspective. Critics often gender the novel's style as masculine because of its aggressive narrative voice.
Did you know? The word ‘gender’ originally meant ‘kind’ or ‘type’ in Middle English and only acquired its modern sense of biological sex in the 20th century, reflecting shifting social discussions.