Etymology and origin of the French word unisexe
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Compound
- First attested
- 1763 Adanson, Familles des plantes More words from the 18th century
- Ultimate origins
- French uni-Latin sexus
Etymology tree
From the same root
Pronunciation
- /y.ni.sɛks/[1]
Forms
unisexe (plural unisexes)[1]
Etymology
It is a compound from French uni- + sexe.[2][1][3][4] The botanist Adanson first used it for a plant with only one sex, and the word was taken up again, with a new meaning, in the language of fashion around 1960–1970.[2][5][6]
Earliest recorded meaning
It is first recorded in 1763, in the preface to Adanson's Familles des plantes, as a botanical term meaning “having only one sex”, said of a flower.[2][5]
Semantic evolution
The word came back in the 1960s as a term of fashion, now meaning “suitable for either sex” and applied to clothes and hairstyles that are neither specifically male nor female.[6][3][4] The TLFi's first record of this sense is from the magazine Elle in January 1970, and the GLLF's from 1971.[2][5]
The plural is usually unisexes, but the word is sometimes left invariable.[2]
Timeline
- 1763 – Adanson uses it of a flower with only one sex.[2][5]
- c. 1960 – It is used of clothes made for both sexes.[6][3][4]
- 1970 – The magazine Elle uses it in the sense “suitable for either sex”.[2]
- 1971 – The GLLF finds this sense in a book of fashionable words.[5]
Meanings
Adjective
- (of clothing or hairstyles) unisex: made or suitable for men and women alike: une coupe unisexe.[4][5][2]
- (botany, rare) Having only one sex.[2][5]
Related words
Usage notes
The TLFi notes that the word is sometimes left unchanged in the plural, beside the usual unisexes.[2]
References
- ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
- ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Cite this entry
“Unisexe.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/unisexe. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.
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