unisex

Etymology

It is formed from English uni- + sex.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} The OED compares French unisexe, recorded by 1763, and scientific New Latin unisexus (1783), and the earlier unisexual.^[2] Uni- is from Latin ūnus (“one”),^[3] and sex is from sexus (“a sex, gender”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In biology, having either male or female organs but not both in each individual: 1810, in the Literary Panorama, a rare sense obsolete by 1890.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The biological senses of the 19th century, of the adjective and of a noun (1877, 1882), were rare and died out.^[2] From 1917 the adjective meant "of one sex only", like unisexual.^[2] The modern sense, suitable for either sex, belongs to the fashions of the 1960s: the revised OED dates the adjective and the noun, the state of being sexually neutral or indistinguishable, to 1966,^[2] as Merriam-Webster does the noun.^[4] The 1989 edition of the OED, Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date the adjective to 1968, with reference to styles of dress and appearance,^[8][3][4] and Dictionary.com to 1965–70.^[7] Merriam-Webster also records its extension to things that are the same for both sexes, such as insurance rates.^[4]

Timeline

• 1810 – biology, having the organs of one sex only in each individual (obsolete by 1890).^[2]
• 1917 – of or relating to one sex only.^[2]
• 1966 – designed to suit either sex; also noun, the state of being sexually neutral or indistinguishable.^[2][4] The 1989 edition of the OED dated the adjective to 1968 and the noun to 1969.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Designed for or suitable to both men and women: a unisex salon.^[4][5][2]
2. Not distinguishable as male or female; sexually neutral.^[4][6]
3. The same for both sexes: unisex pension rates.^[4]
4. Of or relating to one sex only.^[2]

Noun

1. The state of not being distinguishable as male or female, as by dress or hairstyle; the quality of suiting both sexes.^[4][2][6]

Related words

• unisexual
• sex

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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press