homosexual

See also: homosexuál

English

Etymology

Borrowed from German Homosexual, from homo- (“same”) + sexual (“relating to sex (gender) or sexuality”), coined by Karl-Maria Kertbeny in 1869, and popularized in Richard von Krafft-Ebing's 1886 Psychopathia Sexualis (in German) and Charles Gilbert Chaddock's 1892 English translation thereof (compare bisexual), displacing the slightly older term Uranian. Equivalent to homo- +‎ -sexual.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation):
  • IPA^(key): /ˌhɒməʊˈsɛksjuːəl/, /ˌhɒməʊˈsɛkʃuːəl/
  • IPA^(key): /ˌhəʊməʊˈsɛksjuːəl/, /ˌhəʊməʊˈsɛkʃuːəl/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• (US):
  • enPR: hō'mə-sĕkʹsho͞o-əl, hō'mō-sĕkʹsho͞o-əl, IPA^(key): /ˌhoʊməˈsɛkʃuːəl/, /ˌhoʊmoʊˈsɛkʃuːəl/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

Adjective

homosexual (comparative more homosexual, superlative most homosexual)

1. (of a person or animal) Possessing sexual and/or emotional attraction towards members of the same sex. Examples being a male androphile or a female gynephile. (Sometimes used in the sense of sole/exclusive attraction.)
   • 1983, Michael W. Ross, Homosexuality and Social Sex Roles:

     "Significant results indicate that Swedes would choose a more masculine partner the more homosexual they are, and that Finns would choose a more attractive partner the more homosexual they are."

2. (of a romantic or sexual act or relationship) Between two people of the same gender-area; gay.

   My sister is currently in a homosexual relationship with a girl in her class.

   homosexual acts, a homosexual kiss

3. Intended for or used by homosexuals, as a nightclub, a bar, etc.

Usage notes

• Many style guides and many gay people recommend against the use of the word "homosexual" because of its clinical and sometimes pejorative connotations, preferring the terms gay and (for women) lesbian, and relationship descriptors like "same-sex relationship". Many consider it particularly pejorative when it is used as a noun, and prefer "gay man", "gay woman" (or "lesbian").
• The first part of the word derives from the Greek word for "same", which is traditionally pronounced /ˈhɒməʊ/, unlike the Latin word homo (“man, human being”), which is pronounced /ˈhəʊməʊ/ (RP). However, it is much more common to pronounce the first vowel as /əʊ/ (RP) / /oʊ/ (US) than as /ɒ/.

Synonyms

• (sexually attracted solely or primarily to the same sex): gay, lesbian (used only of women), homo (derogatory)
• (involving or relating to homosexuals): gay, lesbian (used only of women), same-sex
• (intended for or used by homosexuals): gay, lesbian (used only of women)
• (community): LGBT

Antonyms

• (sexually attracted solely or primarily to the same sex): heterosexual (hetero), straight, breeder
• (involving or relating to homosexuals): heterosexual (hetero)
• (intended for or used by homosexuals): heterosexual (hetero), straight

Hyponyms

• heteroflexible
• homoflexible

Coordinate terms

• (of humans): (sexual orientations) sexual orientation; asexual (-ity, ace), bisexual (-ity, bi), demisexual (-ity), graysexual (-ity), heterosexual (-ity, straight), homosexual (-ity, gay, lesbian), omnisexual (-ity), pansexual (-ity, pan), plurisexual (-ity), polysexual (-ity), robosexual (-ity), sapiosexual (-ity), androsexual (-ity), gynesexual (-ity) ^{(Category: en:Sexual orientations)}
• (of humans): bi, hetero
• (of humans): homoromantic

Translations

sexually attracted solely or primarily to the same sex

• Arabic: مِثْلِيّ الْجِنْس‎ (miṯliyy al-jins) (non offensive), شَاذّ جِنْسِيًّا‎ (šāḏḏ jinsiyyan) (can be pejorative, depending on context), لُوطِيّ‎ (lūṭiyy) (offensive)
• Belarusian: гамасексуа́льны (hamasjeksuálʹny), гомасексуа́льны (homasjeksuálʹny)
• Bulgarian: хомосексуа́лен (bg) m (homoseksuálen)
• Catalan: homosexual (ca)
• Cebuano: bayot, bakla
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 同性戀的 (zh), 同性恋的 (zh) (tóngxìngliàn de), 同性的 (zh) (tóngxìng de)

• Czech: homosexuální (cs)
• Danish: homoseksuel (da)
• Dutch: homoseksueel (nl), (slang) van de verkeerde kant
• Esperanto: samseksema (eo) (same-sex-oriented), samseksama (eo) (same-sex-loving)
• Faroese: samkyndur
• Finnish: homoseksuaalinen (fi), homo (fi)
• French: homosexuel (fr) m, homosexuelle (fr) f
• Georgian: ჰომოსექსუალი (homoseksuali)
• German: homosexuell (de)
• Greek: ομοφυλόφιλος (el) m (omofylófilos), ομοφυλόφιλη (el) f (omofylófili)

  Ancient: κίναιδος m (kínaidos)

• Hebrew: הוֹמוֹסֶקְסוּאָל‎ (he) m (homoseksuál)
• Hungarian: homoszexuális (hu)
• Icelandic: samkynhneigður
• Ido: homeosexuala (io)
• Interlingua: homosexual
• Irish: homaighnéasach, aerach
• Italian: omosessuale (it) m or f
• Japanese: 同性愛者 (どうせいあいしゃ, dōseiaisha)

• Khmer: ខ្ទើយ (km) (ktəəy)
• Lao: ກະເທີຍ (lo) (ka thœ̄i), ຮັກຮ່ວມເພດ (hak hūam phēt)
• Latin: cinaedus, cinaedicus, homosexualis
• Latvian: homoseksuāls (lv)
• Lithuanian: homoseksualus m, homoseksuali f
• Malay: homoseksual
• Maltese: omosesswali m or f
• Norman: homosexuel
• Norwegian: homoseksuell m, (informally) homo (no) m
• Persian: همجنسگرا‎ (hamjensgarâ)
• Polish: homoseksualny (pl) m
• Portuguese: homossexual (pt)
• Romanian: homosexual (ro) m
• Russian: гомосексуа́льный (ru) (gomosɛksuálʹnyj)
• Sanskrit: समलिङ्गकामिन् (samaliṅgakāmin)
• Scottish Gaelic: co-sheòrsach (gd) m, co-ghnèitheach, gèidh
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: геј m, хомосексуалан m, лезбо f

  Roman: gej (sh) m, homoseksualan (sh) m, lezbo f

• Slovak: homosexuálny (sk)
• Spanish: homosexual (es)
• Swahili: shoga (sw) class 5/6
• Swedish: homosexuell (sv)
• Thai: รักร่วมเพศ (rák-rûuam-pêet), แต๋ว (dtɛ̌o), ลักเพศ (lák-gà-pêet)
• Turkish: eş cinsel (tr), homoseksüel (tr)
• Ukrainian: гомосексуа́льний (homoseksuálʹnyj)
• Vietnamese: đồng tính (vi), đồng tính luyến ái (vi)

involving or relating to homosexuals

• Bulgarian: хомосексуален (bg) (homoseksualen)
• Catalan: homosexual (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 同性戀的 (zh), 同性恋的 (zh) (tóngxìngliàn de), 同性的 (zh) (tóngxìng de)

• Esperanto: samseksema (eo), samseksama (eo), geja (eo)
• Finnish: homoseksuaalinen (fi)
• Georgian: ჰომოსექსუალური (homoseksualuri)

• Greek: ομοφυλόφιλος (el) m (omofylófilos)
• Latvian: homoseksuāls (lv)
• Portuguese: homossexual (pt), homo (pt), gay (pt)
• Russian: гомосексуа́льный (ru) (gomosɛksuálʹnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: co-ghnèitheach, gèidh, co-sheòrsach (gd)
• Slovak: homosexuálny (sk)
• Turkish: eş cinsel (tr), homoseksüel (tr)

intended for or used by homosexuals

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 同性戀的 (zh), 同性恋的 (zh) (tóngxìngliàn de), 同性的 (zh) (tóngxìng de)

• Esperanto: geja (eo), samseksama (eo), samseksema (eo)
• Finnish: homo- (fi)
• Greek: ομοφυλόφιλος (el) m (omofylófilos)

• Portuguese: homossexual (pt), homo (pt), gay (pt)
• Russian: гомосексуа́льный (ru) (gomosɛksuálʹnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: co-ghnèitheach, co-sheòrsach (gd), gèidh
• Slovak: gay (sk)
• Turkish: eş cinsel (tr), homoseksüel (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Malayalam: ^{(please verify)} സ്വവര്‍ഗസ്നേഹി (svavar‍gasnēhi), ^{(please verify)} സ്വ‌വര്‍ഗസ്നേഹി (sva‌var‍gasnēhi)

Noun

homosexual (plural homosexuals)

1. A person who is attracted solely or primarily to others of the same sex.

Usage notes

• Many style guides and gay people advise against the use of "homosexual" as a noun; see the usage notes above.

Synonyms

• This section is divided into two tables, one containing synonyms that generally are not derogatory and one containing those that generally are. However, note that the non-derogatory terms can nonetheless be used derogatorily, and that some of the derogatory ones are often used humorously and non-derogatorily by gay people and others.

non-derogatory synonyms

of either sex

• gay (but see usage notes at gay)
• invert (dated psychological term)
• same-sexer

only of men

• company man
• Uranian (historical, 19th century)

only of women

• lesbian
• sapphist

derogatory synonyms

of either sex

• bugger
• fruit (especially US)
• homo
• moffie (South African slang)
• queer

only of men

• fag (US slang)
• faggot (especially US)
• pole-smoker
• fairy
• flamer (especially US)
• nance, nancy, nancy boy
• pansy
• poofter
• queen
• pederast (chiefly if the partner is adolescent)
• sodomite (but see usage notes at sodomite)
• light in the loafers

only of women

• lesbo (used only of women)
• dyke
• muff-diver
• carpet muncher
• scissor sister

Translations

person who is attracted solely or primarily to others of the same sex

• Afrikaans: homoseksueel
• Albanian: homoseksual (sq) m, homo m
• Arabic: لُوطِيّ‎ m (lūṭiyy), شَاذّ جِنْسِيًا‎ m (šāḏḏ jinsiyan)
• Armenian: համասեռամոլ (hy) (hamaseṙamol)
• Azerbaijani: homoseksual, homoseksualist
• Basque: homosexual (eu)
• Belarusian: гамасэксуалі́ст m (hamaseksualíst), гей m (hjej), лесбія́нка f (ljesbijánka) (lesbian)
• Breton: heñvelrevel
• Bulgarian: хомосексуали́ст (bg) m (homoseksualíst), гей m (gej)
• Burmese: ဂေး (ge:)
• Catalan: homosexual (ca) m or f
• Cebuano: bayot
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 同性戀者 (zh), 同性恋者 (zh) (tóngxìngliànzhě)

• Czech: homosexuál (cs) m
• Danish: homoseksuel (da) c
• Dutch: homoseksueel (nl) m, homo (nl) m
• Esperanto: samseksemulo (eo), gejo (eo)
• Estonian: homoseksuaal
• Faroese: samkyndur
• Finnish: homoseksuaali (fi), homoseksualisti (fi), homo (fi)
• French: homosexuel (fr) m, homosexuelle (fr) f, lesbienne (fr) f
• Georgian: ჰომოსექსუალი (homoseksuali)
• German: Homosexueller (de) m, Homosexuelle (de) f
• Greek: ομοφυλόφιλος (el) m (omofylófilos), λεσβία (el) f (lesvía) (lesbian)

  Ancient: (male homosexual) ἀρσενοκοίτης (arsenokoítēs)

• Greenlandic: suiaaqatiminoortartoq, suiaqatiminik atoqateqartartoq
• Hawaiian: māhū
• Hebrew: הוֹמוֹסֶקסוּאָל‎ (he) m (homoseksual)
• Hungarian: homoszexuális (hu)
• Icelandic: samkynhneigður m, hommi (is)
• Ido: homeosexualo (io) (♂♀), homeosexualulo (io) (♂), homeosexualino (io) (♀), geyo (io) (♂), lesbiano (io) (♀)
• Indonesian: homosex
• Interlingua: homosexual
• Irish: homaighnéasach m
• Italian: omosessuale (it) m or f
• Japanese: 同性愛者 (どうせいあいしゃ, dōseiaisha), ゲイ (ja) (gei), ホモセクシャル (homosekusharu), レス (resu) (lesbian)
• Kazakh: гомосексуалист (gomosekswalïst)
• Khmer: មនុស្សប្រតិព័ទ្ធ មនុស្សភេទដូចគ្នា (mɔnuh prɑte’pʊən mɔnuh pʰeit dooc knie)

• Korean: 동성애자 (ko) (dongseong-aeja) (同性愛者 (ko)), 게이 (ko) (gei)
• Kyrgyz: кумса (kumsa), гомосексуалист (gomoseksualist)
• Lao: ກະເທີຍ (lo) (ka thœ̄i)
• Latin: cinaedus m, homosexualis m
• Latvian: homoseksuāls (lv) m, gejs (lv) m
• Lithuanian: homoseksualas (lt) m, homoseksualė f
• Macedonian: хо́мосексуалец m (hómoseksualec), геј m (gej), ле́збејка f (lézbejka) (lesbian)
• Maori: tōingo, takāpui, takatāpui, takatāpui tāne (for a male), takatāpui wahine (for a female)
• Mongolian: гомосекс (gomoseks)
• Navajo: nádleeh, ádadilʼínígíí, beełtʼéi yidánoolní
• Norman: homosexuel m, homosexuelle f, lesbienne f
• Northern Sami: homofiila, homoseksuála
• Norwegian: (informally) homse (no) m, (formally) homofil m
• Okinawan: 同性人 (dooshiinchu), 同性ん人 (dooshiinchu)
• Persian: همجنس‌گرا‎ (hamjens-gerâ), هموسکسوئل‎ (homoseksuel)
• Polish: homoseksualista (pl) m, gej (pl) m, lesbijka (pl) f
• Portuguese: homossexual (pt), homo (pt), gay (pt) m or f
• Romanian: homosexual (ro) m
• Russian: гомосексуали́ст (ru) m (gomosɛksualíst), гомосексуа́л (ru) m (gomosɛksuál), гей (ru) m (gej), гомосе́к (ru) m (gomosék), гомосе́к (ru) m (gomosɛ́k) (colloquial, pejorative), го́мик (ru) m (gómik) (colloquial, pejorative), лесбия́нка (ru) f (lesbijánka) (lesbian), ле́сби (ru) f (lésbi) (lesbian)
• Scots: buftie
• Scottish Gaelic: co-sheòrsach (gd) m, co-ghnèitheach m, gèidh m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: геј m, хомосексуалац m, лезбејка f

  Roman: gej (sh) m, homoseksualac (sh) m, lezbejka (sh) f

• Slovak: homosexuál (sk) m, homosexuálka f
• Slovene: homoseksuálec (sl) m, homoseksuálca f
• Spanish: homosexual (es) m or f
• Swahili: shoga (sw) class 5/6
• Swedish: homosexuell (sv) c, homo (sv) c
• Tajik: ҳамҷинсгаро (tg) (hamjinsgaro)
• Thai: เกย์ (th) (gee), ตุ๊ด (th) (dtút), ชายรักร่วมเพศ (chaai-rák-rûuam-pêet) (man), หญิงรักร่วมเพศ (yǐng-rák-rûuam-pêet) (woman)
• Turkish: homoseksüel (tr), eşcinsel (tr), gey (tr), lezbiyen (tr)
• Turkmen: gomoseksual
• Udmurt: гомосексуалист (gomoseksualist), аспалэс (aspales), аспал пи (aspal pi)
• Ukrainian: гомосексуалі́ст m (homoseksualíst), гей (uk) m (hej), ґей (uk) m (gej), лесбія́нка f (lesbijánka) (lesbian), лесбі́йка f (lesbíjka) (lesbian)
• Uzbek: gomoseksualist, gey
• Vietnamese: giao hợp với người đồng tính
• Welsh: gwrywgydiwr
• Yiddish: האָמאָסעקסואַל‎ (homoseksual)

Derived terms

• homosexually
• homosexuality
• homosexualism
• homosexualize
• homosexualization

References

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Basque

Adjective

homosexual

1. homosexual

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Catalan

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /o.mo.sək.suˈal/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /u.mu.sək.suˈal/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /o.mo.sek.suˈal/

Adjective

homosexual (masculine and feminine plural homosexuals)

1. homosexual

Noun

homosexual m or f (plural homosexuals)

1. homosexual

Related terms

• homosexualitat

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Galician

Etymology

homo- +‎ sexual

Adjective

homosexual m or f (plural homosexuais)

1. homosexual

   O comportamento homosexual obsérvase con frecuencia entre os mamíferos.

   Homosexual behaviour is frequently observed among mammals.

Noun

homosexual m or f (plural homosexuais)

1. homosexual

Antonyms

• heterosexual

Related terms

• homosexualidade
• maricón (pejorative)
• homofobia

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Novial

Adjective

homosexual

1. homosexual

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Romanian

Etymology

French homosexuel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌho.mo.sek.suˈal/

Adjective

homosexual m or n (feminine singular homosexuală, masculine plural homosexuali, feminine and neuter plural homosexuale)

1. homosexual

   În lumea animală se observă comportamentul homosexual relativ frecvent la mamifere și la păsări

   In the animal world, homosexual behaviour is observed relatively frequent in mammals and birds.

Declension

declension of homosexual

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	homosexual		homosexuală	homosexuali	homosexuale
	definite	homosexualul		homosexuala	homosexualii	homosexualele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	homosexual		homosexuale	homosexuali	homosexuale
	definite	homosexualului		homosexualei	homosexualilor	homosexualelor

Noun

homosexual m (plural homosexuali, feminine equivalent homosexuală)

1. homosexual

Declension

declension of homosexual

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) homosexual	homosexualul	(niște) homosexuali	homosexualii
genitive/dative	(unui) homosexual	homosexualului	(unor) homosexuali	homosexualilor
vocative	homosexualule		homosexualilor

Related terms

• homosexualitate
• gay
• lesbian / lesbiană
• poponar (pejorative)
• bulangiu (pejorative)

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Spanish

Etymology

homo- +‎ sexual

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

homosexual (plural homosexuales)

1. homosexual

   El comportamiento homosexual se observa con frecuencia entre los mamíferos.

   Homosexual behaviour is frequently observed among mammals.

Noun

homosexual m or f (plural homosexuales)

1. homosexual

Antonyms

• heterosexual

Related terms

• homosexualidad
• maricón (pejorative)
• homofobia