bisexual

== English == === Alternative forms === bi-sexual === Etymology === From bi- +‎ -sexual, via the French bisexuel (bi-, sexuel). Attested since 1792 as a synonym in botany for "hermaphroditic" ("having male and female parts"). First used of sexuality in Richard von Krafft-Ebing's 1886 Psychopathia Sexualis (in German) and Charles Gilbert Chaddock's 1892 English translation thereof, due to the theory that people were naturally attracted to the opposite sex and so the brain or mind of a person attracted to "both" sexes (or to the same sex) must be partly of another sex and thus "hermaphroditic". === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /baɪˈsɛk.ʃʊ.əl/, /baɪˈsɛk.ʃ(ʊ)l/, /-sjʊ(ə)l/ (General American) IPA(key): /baɪˈsɛk.ʃ(əw).əl/ Rhymes: -ɛkʃuəl Hyphenation: bi‧sex‧u‧al === Adjective === bisexual (comparative more bisexual, superlative most bisexual) (of humans or other animals) Sexually attracted to both opposite-gendered and same-gendered individuals. (Compare pansexual.) Synonyms: (slang) AC/DC, (jocular) ambidextrous, (colloquial) bi, omnifutuent Antonym: monosexual (chiefly botany) Having both male and female parts, characteristics, or functions. (botany) Of flowers: having both pollen and seeds. (botany) Of sporophytes: having both male and female organs. (botany) Of gametophytes: producing both eggs and sperm. (botany) Of fungi: producing both the "female" ascogonium and the "male" antheridium. (rare) Hermaphroditic/intersex, being both male and female, or alternating between being male and being female. For more quotations using this term, see Citations:bisexual. Androgynous. (chiefly biology) Having two distinct sexes, male and female (as contrasted with unisexual or hermaphroditic). (chiefly biology) Involving two sexes (particularly with regard to reproduction; contrast parthenogenetic or asexual). 1913, Kammerer's Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution of 1912, in the Congressional Serial Set, page 425: ==== Synonyms ==== (botany: having male and female organs): perfect, hermaphrodite See also Thesaurus:bisexual ==== Hyponyms ==== heteroflexible, homoflexible ==== Coordinate terms ==== ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Noun === bisexual (plural bisexuals) A person who is bisexual. Synonym: (colloquial) bi Hypernym: LGBTQ (botany, rare) A plant or fungus, or part thereof, which is bisexual. (chiefly biology) An organism (that is, a species) which has male and female sexes. ==== Synonyms ==== see also Thesaurus:bisexual ==== Translations ==== === References === == Catalan == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): (Central, Balearic) [bi.sək.suˈal] IPA(key): (Valencia) [bi.sek.suˈal] === Adjective === bisexual m or f (masculine and feminine plural bisexuals) bisexual === Noun === bisexual m or f by sense (plural bisexuals) bisexual ==== Related terms ==== bisexualitat == Interlingua == === Adjective === bisexual (not comparable) bisexual === Noun === bisexual (plural bisexuales) bisexual == Romanian == === Etymology === Borrowed from French bisexuel. Equivalent to bi- +‎ sexual. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˌbi.se.ksuˈal/ === Adjective === bisexual m or n (feminine singular bisexuală, masculine plural bisexuali, feminine/neuter plural bisexuale) bisexual ==== Declension ==== === Noun === bisexual m (plural bisexuali, feminine equivalent bisexuală) bisexual ==== Declension ==== ==== Related terms ==== bisexualitate == Spanish == === Etymology === From bi- +‎ sexual. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /biseɡˈswal/ [bi.seɣ̞ˈswal] Rhymes: -al Syllabification: bi‧se‧xual === Adjective === bisexual m or f (masculine and feminine plural bisexuales) bisexual === Noun === bisexual m or f by sense (plural bisexuales) bisexual === Further reading === “bisexual”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025