Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

homosexual

[hoh-muh-sek-shoo-uh l or, esp. British, -seks-yoo-]
See more synonyms for homosexual on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. Older Use: Sometimes Disparaging. sexually attracted to members of one's own sex: homosexual students.
  2. Older Use: Sometimes Disparaging. of or relating to sexual desire or behavior directed toward members of one's own sex: the homosexual subculture.
  3. Archaic. of, relating to, or noting the same sex: pregnant with homosexual twins.
Show More
noun
  1. Older Use: Sometimes Disparaging. a homosexual person.
Show More

Origin of homosexual

First recorded in 1890–95; homo- + sexual
Related formsan·ti·ho·mo·sex·u·al, adjective

Usage note

Up until 1986, homosexuality was listed in The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), psychiatry's standard reference on the classification of mental illness. People aware of this former categorization may feel that the term homosexual stills carries a negative connotation. And some feel that this word places undue emphasis on sexual activity, or that it sounds overly clinical. In fact, homosexual as an adjective and noun is somewhat dated, except in medical and other formal contexts; the term gay has mostly replaced it. People who still use homosexual are usually unaware that the term may be a sensitive one, although some do use it with intent to cause offense. However, not all members of the gay community object to it. See also gay.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for homosexual

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

British Dictionary definitions for homosexual

homosexual

noun
  1. a person who is sexually attracted to members of the same sex
Show More
adjective
  1. of or relating to homosexuals or homosexuality
  2. of or relating to the same sex
Show More
Compare heterosexual
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for homosexual

adj.

1892, in C.G. Chaddock's translation of Krafft-Ebing's "Psychopathia Sexualis," from German homosexual, homosexuale (by 1880, in Gustav Jäger), from homo-, comb. form of Greek homos "same" (see homo- (1)) + Latin-based sexual.

"Homosexual" is a barbarously hybrid word, and I claim no responsibility for it. It is, however, convenient, and now widely used. "Homogenic" has been suggested as a substitute. [H. Havelock Ellis, "Studies in Psychology," 1897]

Sexual inversion (1883) was an earlier clinical term for it in English. The noun is recorded by 1895. In technical use, either male or female; but in non-technical use almost always male. Slang shortened form homo first attested 1929.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
homosexual in Medicine

homosexual

(hō′mə-sĕk′shōō-əl, -mō-)
adj.
  1. Of, relating to, or having a sexual orientation to persons of the same sex.
Show More
n.
  1. A homosexual person; a gay man or a lesbian.
Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.