natural gender

American  

noun

Grammar.

1. gender based on the sex or, for neuter, the lack of sex of the referent of a noun, as English girl (feminine) is referred to by the feminine pronoun she, boy (masculine) by the masculine pronoun he, and table (neuter) by the neuter pronoun it.

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natural gender British  

noun

1. grammatical gender that reflects, as in English, the sex or animacy of the referent of a noun rather than the form or any other feature of the word

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Example Sentences

Sometimes those categories are called masculine and feminine, like in Spanish, although for some other languages the categories have nothing at all to do with natural gender or biological sex.

From Slate • Apr. 30, 2012

In Latin there are three genders, and the grammatical gender of a noun is not necessarily identical with its natural gender.

From The Common People of Ancient Rome Studies of Roman Life and Literature by Abbott, Frank Frost