Nongendered

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Not linked or related to any specific gender, lacking gender identification or characteristics
2. Having no connection to male, female, or any other gender category and remaining neutral in gender expression
3. Describing something that is free from gender distinctions and does not imply or represent a particular gender

Etymology: "Nongendered" is a plain formation: the prefix "non-" attached to "gendered," the past participle of "gender," which is itself used adjectivally to mean "having gender" or "marked by gender distinctions." The prefix "non-" comes from Latin "non," meaning "not," and has long been used in English to form negative adjectives such as "nonstop" or "nonessential." The base "gender" entered English through Old French "gendre" from Latin "genus," meaning "kind" or "birth," which is why the word once referred to kind or sort before it came to denote grammatical categories and, later, social identity. Put together, "nongendered" describes something that lacks gender marking, whether in grammar, in design, or in how a person or thing is presented. The term is most often applied to things that are deliberately made free of gendered associations, such as products, clothing, or names. Its meaning therefore rests on the idea of negating a distinction rather than on any new sense of its own.

Synonyms: gender-neutral, genderless, sexless

Antonyms: gendered, binary