bisexuality

American  

[bahy-sek-shoo-al-i-tee, -seks-yoo-] / ˌbaɪ sɛk ʃuˈæl ɪ ti, -sɛks yu- /

noun

1. sexual desire or behavior directed toward people of more than one gender, sometimes understood to include attraction to one's own sex or gender and at least one other sex or gender.

2. the state of being sexually attracted to people of more than one gender, sometimes understood to include attraction to one's own sex or gender and at least one other sex or gender.

3. Biology.

   1. (of a species) having two distinct sexes.

      In these plants, bisexuality recently evolved from an ancestral unisexual condition.

   2. having both male and female sexual organs present in one individual.

      Bisexuality occurs in about 50% of the red sea bream's juvenile population.

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bisexuality Cultural  

1. Sexual activity with, or sexual attraction to, members of both sexes.

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Usage

Does bisexuality involve attraction to only two genders? See bisexual.

Etymology

Origin of bisexuality

First recorded in 1840–50 bisexuality for def. 3, and in 1890–95 bisexuality for defs. 1, 2; bi- ¹ ( def. ) + sexuality ( def. ); from German Bisexualität bisexuality for defs. 1, 2

Example Sentences

From books about bisexuality, to Polaroid pictures of Nick and Charlie together, they’ve gone to painstaking lengths to make the bedroom a true reflection of the character's journey throughout the series.

From BBC • Oct. 1, 2024

For fans, that might have seemed like big news, but the truth was her bisexuality was something she’d known about herself for a while.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 4, 2024

Mead’s bisexuality had already nearly destroyed her career once before.

From Slate • Feb. 10, 2024

“We should welcome more studies of bisexuality and homosexuality. … This is partly a biological question, so we should understand it.”

From Science Magazine • Jan. 2, 2024

In 1893, in his L'Inversion Sexuelle, Chevalier, a pupil of Lacassagne—who had already applied the term "hermaphrodisme moral" to this anomaly—explained congenital homosexuality by the idea of latent bisexuality.

From Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 2 Sexual Inversion by Ellis, Havelock