Etymologically
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heterosexual

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 20:35. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌhɛtəɹəˈsɛkʃuəl/, /ˌhɛtɹəˈsɛkʃuəl/[1]
  • US: /ˌhɛtəɹəˈsɛkʃuəl/, /ˌhɛtəɹoʊˈsɛkʃuəl/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English hetero- + sexual,[2][3][1][4][5] after the German word heterosexual,[2] a hybrid of Greek and Latin elements:[3][6] Ancient Greek ἕτερος (héteros, “the other of two, different”)[6][3] and Late Latin sexuālis (“relating to sex”), from sexus (“sex”).[3][6] The German adjective goes back to K. M. Kertbeny, who used it in a letter of 6 May 1868 together with homosexual;[2] through G. Jäger his terms reached R. von Krafft-Ebing's “Psychopathia Sexualis”, whose English translation of 1892 is the first English record.[2][3] In German both words were later replaced by heterosexuell and homosexuell.[2] Merriam-Webster classes the word as International Scientific Vocabulary.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Sexually attracted to, or engaging in sexual activity with, people of the opposite sex: 1892, in C. G. Chaddock's translation of Krafft-Ebing's “Psychopathia Sexualis”,[2][3] where it was originally a term of psychology and psychoanalysis.[2]

Semantic evolution

The noun, a heterosexual person, is recorded by the OED from 1892, in a letter of J. A. Symonds to Havelock Ellis,[2] and by Merriam-Webster from 1913;[7] Etymonline dates it to 1914 and notes that it was not in common use until the 1960s.[3] From 1912 the adjective was also used, chiefly in biology, of things belonging to or occurring between individuals of opposite sexes, such as fraternal twins of different sex,[2][8] and since 1927 of anything relating to heterosexual people.[2] The colloquial clipping hetero is recorded from 1933.[3] Collins gives straight as an informal synonym.[9]

Timeline

  • 1868 – German heterosexual, in a letter by Kertbeny.[2]
  • 1892 – adjective and noun, in English.[2][3][7]
  • 1912 – of or between individuals of opposite sexes, in biology.[2]
  • 1914 – the noun, according to Etymonline.[3]
  • 1927 – relating to heterosexual people.[2]
  • 1933 – the clipping hetero.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Sexually or romantically attracted to people of the opposite sex: a heterosexual man.[9][7][2]
  2. Relating to or involving such attraction or sexual activity, or relating to heterosexuality: heterosexual relationships.[9][7][2]
  3. (biology) Of or between individuals of opposite sexes.[2][7]

Noun

  1. A heterosexual person.[9][7][2]

Word family

  • heterosexually
  • heterosexuality

References

  1. ^ a b c 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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  9. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins