bisexual
pronunciation
How to pronounce bisexual in British English:
UK [ˌbaɪˈsekʃuəl]
How to pronounce bisexual in American English:
US [baɪˈsɛkʃuəl]
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- Noun:
- a person who is sexually attracted to both sexes
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- Adjective:
- sexually attracted to both sexes
- having an ambiguous sexual identity
Word Origin
- bisexual (adj.)
- 1824, "having both sexes in one being, hermaphroditic," from bi- + sexual. Meaning "attracted to both sexes" is from 1914; the noun in this sense is attested from 1922, and compare bisexuality. Not in general use until 1950s. Ambisexual was proposed in this sense early 20c. I suggest that the term ambisexuality be used in psychology instead of the expression "bisexual predisposition." This would connote that we understand by this predisposition, not the presence of male and female material in the organism (Fliess), nor of male and female sex hunger in the mind, but the child's psychical capacity for bestowing his erotism, originally objectless, on either the male or the female sex, or on both. [S. Ferenczi, "Sex in Psycho-Analysis," transl. Ernest Jones, Boston, 1916]
Example
- 1. All of the participants self-identified as heterosexual or bisexual .
- 2. Flowers bisexual or plants sometimes polygamous .
- 3. Why choose a bisexual identity ?
- 4. In the past , fox has been outspoken about being bisexual and having had an affair with a stripper while in her teens .
- 5. The greatest tool in awareness is language , and bisexual has a very clear meaning .