Gynesexual

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Describing a person whose sexual attraction is directed toward women or feminine-presenting individuals
2. Sexually drawn to females or to people who express feminine qualities
3. Having a sexual orientation focused on women and those perceived as feminine

Etymology: Gynesexual is a plain compound with no hidden history: it joins "gyne-", from Ancient Greek "gunē", meaning "woman" or "female", to "-sexual", the English adjective from Latin "sexualis", itself built on "sexus", meaning "sex". The result describes attraction to women, or sexuality directed toward women, and it mirrors the older pairing of "androsexual" with "andro-", the Greek combining form for "man". The Greek root "gunē" passed into English as "gyne-" in scientific and technical coinages, where it appears in words for female characteristics. Its use in this word follows that same modern scientific habit, so the term reads as a deliberate formation rather than a word that grew up gradually in everyday speech.