Etymologically
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sexism

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 15:30. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /ˈsɛksɪzm̩/[1]

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

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