sexism

Etymology

It is formed from English sex + -ism,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} in its modern sense on the model of racism.^[3][4][5][6] The first part is from Latin sexus.^[7][8] Etymonline treats it as a companion of sexist,^[8] which it says was coined in 1965 by Pauline M. Leet, director of special programs at Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania, in a speech circulated among feminists in mimeograph, and made popular by Caroline Bird's introduction to "Born Female" (1968), which also introduced the noun.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The state of belonging to the male or female sex, or classification by sex: 1866, in J. H. W. Toohey in the Boston Banner of Light, a sense now rare.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The OED of 1989 dated the word to 1968, with the sense of the assumption that one sex is superior to the other and the discrimination that results;^[9] its revised entry of 2008 found the 1866 use in the older, neutral sense, and gives prejudice and discrimination as the later sense.^[2] Merriam-Webster also dates the modern sense to 1968,^[3] Dictionary.com to 1965–70,^[6] and the Shorter Oxford to the mid 20th century.^[4] The phrase sex discrimination is older, attested from 1916.^[8] Dictionaries now describe it as prejudice or discrimination based on sex, especially against women, and also as attitudes and conditions that foster stereotyped roles for the sexes.^[3][10][5]

Timeline

• 1866 – the state of belonging to a sex, classification by sex.^[2]
• 1916 – sex discrimination.^[8]
• 1965 – sexist coined by Pauline M. Leet.^[8]
• 1968 – prejudice or discrimination based on sex.^[9][3][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. Prejudice or discrimination based on a person's sex, especially against women: She took the firm to court over sexism in its promotions.^{[5][3][10][2]}
2. Attitudes, behaviour or conditions that encourage stereotyped social roles for men and women.^[3][10][4]

Word family

• sexist
• heterosexism
• antisexism

Related words

• sex
• racism

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d 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 Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
6. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin