Bisexuality

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. This concept encompasses the capacity for emotional or sexual attraction to people regardless of their gender, including those of both sexes and genders
2. It signifies an orientation where one may be attracted to individuals of either sex, showing a dual openness to relationships
3. This term refers to a sexual orientation characterized by the potential for attraction to individuals of more than one gender or sex, facilitating emotional and physical connections with diverse partners

Etymology: Bisexuality is a plain compound built from "bisexual" plus the suffix "-ity", which turns an adjective into a noun meaning the quality or state of being that adjective describes. The suffix itself has a long pedigree: it passed into English through Middle English from Old French, which had taken it from Latin "-itās", and that Latin ending goes back to a much older Indo-European formation. None of that machinery is unusual, though, and the interest lies mostly in the first half of the word. The prefix "bi-" means "two" (from Latin "bi-", ultimately Indo-European in origin), and "sexual" comes from Latin "sexualis", derived from "sexus", meaning sex or gender. Put together, "bisexual" describes attraction to two sexes or genders, and "bisexuality" names that orientation as a quality. Because the noun is formed directly from the adjective, it follows the ordinary pattern of English abstract nouns such as "rationality" or "popularity", so it carries no hidden history beyond the parts already described.

Synonyms: bisexual orientation, dual sexuality

Antonyms: heterosexuality, homosexuality