Bigender

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /baɪˈd͡ʒɛn.dɚ/

Definitions

1. An individual who possesses a gender identity that includes both masculine and feminine elements simultaneously
2. A person who experiences a sense of belonging to two gender identities, blending aspects of both male and female
3. A person that identifies with and expresses elements of both genders, encompassing aspects traditionally associated with masculinity and femininity

Etymology: Bigender is a plain compound: the prefix "bi-", meaning "two," attached to "gender." The pairing reflects the word's core idea, a gender identity that holds both masculine and feminine elements at once, and the construction is as transparent as its meaning. The prefix comes from Latin "bi-," which English has used for centuries in words like "bicycle" and "bilingual." The noun "gender" has a longer history, reaching English through Old French from Latin "genus," meaning "kind" or "class." Its grammatical sense, dividing nouns into categories such as masculine and feminine, came first, and only later did the word come to describe personal identity. Combining the two produces a term that reads as a precise label: two genders, held together. Because it is formed from familiar parts, its meaning is recoverable from the spelling alone.

Synonyms: dual-gendered, gender-fluid, genderqueer

Antonyms: monosexual, unigender