cis-

See also: cis, Cis, CIS, cís, cìs, -cis, and çiş

EnglishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From the English preposition cis (“on this side of”). The earliest known gender-related use of the prefix in any language was in a 1914 German-language book on sexology.^[1] According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest use of the prefix in the context of gender in English dates from 1994.^[2]

PrefixEdit

cis-

(geography) On this side of.
Antonym: trans-

‎cis- + ‎alpine → ‎cisalpine (“on this [the Roman] side of the Alps”)

‎cis- + ‎Rhenane → ‎cisrhenane (“on this [the speaker's] side of Rhine”)

‎cis- + ‎Caucasia → ‎Ciscaucasia

‎cis- + ‎Jordan → ‎Cisjordan

‎cis- + ‎Neptunian → ‎cis-Neptunian
(chemistry) Forming names of chemical compounds in which two atoms or groups are situated on the same side of some plane of symmetry passing through the compound.
‎cis- + ‎diazene → ‎cis-diazene
(gender) Cis; cisgender or cissexual.
‎cis- + ‎man → ‎cisman

‎cis- + ‎woman → ‎ciswoman

‎cis- + ‎male → ‎cismale

‎cis- + ‎female → ‎cisfemale
(gender) Of, related to, or specific to cis persons.
‎cis- + ‎gender → ‎cisgender

‎cis- + ‎sexism → ‎cissexism

‎cis- + ‎normativity → ‎cisnormativity

Usage notesEdit

In the first sense, “on this side of”, this prefix is usually attached directly to the word it modifies, or sometimes separated from it by a hyphen: cisrhenane, cis-Neptunian.
In the gender-related senses, this prefix is attached directly to certain words, most notably cisgender and cissexual (which are almost always spelled thus, not as e.g. *cis sexual). In other cases, the related standalone adjective cis is used: hence one speaks of a cis perspective (not *cisperspective), etc. In particular, it is now sometimes considered offensive to write cisman or cis-man, the preferred spelling being cis man (cis man). Compare trans- and trans.