asexual

Etymology

It is formed from English a- + sexual,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} the prefix being the privative Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-, “not”) added to a word of Latin origin, so that Klein and Etymonline call it a hybrid.^[7][3][8] The adjective sexual is from Late Latin sexuālis (“relating to sex”), from sexus (“a sex, gender”).^[3] The OED compares the earlier unsexual, and notes that in later use, of sexual attraction and orientation, the word partly follows homosexual and heterosexual.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In biology, lacking sexual organs or function, and formerly of plants without true flowers and seeds: 1795, in Velley's Coloured Figures of Marine Plants.^[2][9] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates it to 1796,^[5] Dictionary.com to 1820–30,^[6] and Etymonline to 1829.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word began as a term of biology, also used of reproduction that does not involve the union of gametes, as in fission or budding;^[2][5][10] from 1847 it was also a noun for an organism that reproduces in this way.^[2][5] From 1862 it was used of people without sexual feelings or desires,^[2] and Etymonline dates general use for "lacking sexuality" or "of neither sex" to 1896.^[3] From 1894 it also described relationships that involve no sexual activity,^[2][9] and since 1919 a look or style that is neither clearly masculine nor feminine.^[2] The noun for an asexual person is recorded from 1907.^[2] Green's Dictionary of Slang records American campus slang for "uninterested in sex" in 1989,^[11] and the American Heritage Dictionary and Collins now define the word for a person who does not, or seldom, experiences sexual attraction.^[12][10]

Timeline

• 1795 – in biology, lacking sexual organs or function.^[2]
• 1847 – noun, an organism that does not reproduce sexually.^[2][5]
• 1862 – of people, without sexual feelings or desires.^[2]
• 1894 – not involving sexual activity; platonic.^[2]
• 1907 – noun, an asexual person.^[2]
• 1919 – neither clearly masculine nor feminine; androgynous.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (biology) Having no sex, or no functioning sex organs.^[5][10][12]
2. (biology) Of reproduction, taking place without the union of male and female gametes, as in fission or budding.^[5][10][12]
3. Of a person, experiencing little or no sexual attraction to others.^[12][10][2]
4. Not involving sexual activity; platonic.^[2][8]
5. Neither clearly masculine nor feminine; androgynous.^[2]

Noun

1. A person who experiences no sexual attraction.^[12][10][2]
2. (biology) An organism that reproduces asexually.^[5][2]

Word family

• asexuality
• asexually
• asexualize

Related words

• sexual
• sex
• unsexual

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b The Chambers Dictionary (2008), 11th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap
9. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
10. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
12. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt