Monosexual

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. A type of sexual orientation where an individual is attracted solely to one gender
2. Referring to individuals who exclusively seek sexual partners of a specific gender
3. Describes a person who experiences sexual attraction to only a single gender

Etymology: Monosexual is built from two familiar parts: the Greek-derived prefix "mono-", meaning "one" or "single", and "sexual", from Latin "sexualis", based on "sexus". Put together, the word originally described something concerned with a single sex, such as a plant or organism with only one kind of reproductive organ. That sense is still the older and more literal one. The adjective's modern meaning, attracted to only one gender, grew by analogy with "bisexual", which had already established the pattern of a prefix naming how many genders a person is drawn to. Monosexual thus took on a social and personal sense, describing someone whose attraction is directed toward one gender rather than several.