Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word homosexual. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word homosexual, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say homosexual in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word homosexual you have here. The definition of the word homosexual will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofhomosexual, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
(of a person or animal,formal, distancing or dated) Sexually and/or romantically attracted to members of the same sex, such as a man who is attracted to men or a woman who is attracted to women; gay. (Typically used in the sense of sole/exclusive attraction.)
No, it wouldn't make a difference if the applicant was homosexual.
1892 [1889], Charles Gilbert Chaddock, transl., Psychopathia Sexualis, Philadelphia: F. A. Davis, translation of Psychopathia Sexualis by R. von Krafft-Ebing, page 97:
[H]e said he had never noticed anything homosexual in himself.
1983, Michael W. Ross, Homosexuality and Social Sex Roles:
"Significant results indicate that Swedes would choose a more masculine partner the more homosexual they are, and that Finns would choose a more attractive partner the more homosexual they are."
(of a romantic or sexual act or relationship,formal, distancing or dated) Between two people of the same sex; gay.
Most western countries have repealed laws against homosexual activity between consenting adults.
2022 March 20, Bill Maher, William Shatner, 56:37 from the start, in William Shatner, Club Random With Bill Maher, episode 1, Club Random Podcast, archived from the original on 05 April 2022:
Shatner: Have you ever had a homosexual experience? Maher: No. Why, are you...? But it's early!
(dated) Intended for or used by homosexuals, as a nightclub, a bar, etc.
No one says "a homosexual bar" anymore; it's a "gay bar" or maybe a "lesbian bar".
Usage notes
Many style guides and many gay people recommend against the use of the word "homosexual" because of its clinical and sometimes pejorative connotations, preferring the terms gay and (for women) lesbian, and relationship descriptors like "same-sex relationship". Many consider it particularly pejorative when it is used as a noun, and prefer "gay man", "gay woman" (or "lesbian").
The first part of the word derives from the Greek word for "same", which is traditionally pronounced /ˈhɒməʊ/, unlike the Latin word homo(“man, human being”), which is pronounced /ˈhəʊməʊ/ (RP). However, it is much more common to pronounce the first vowel as /əʊ/ (RP) / /oʊ/ (US) than as /ɒ/.
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
(typically formal, distancing or dated) A person who is sexually attracted solely or primarily to others of the same sex.
1963, John Rechy, City of Night, page 48:
Soon, we got up, walked around the west side — toward the "meat rack" — the gay part of the park. There, it was as if someone had hung a line of marionettes on the railing: the lonesome young homosexuals, legs dangling, looking, waiting for that one-night's sexual connection...
1997, The Advocate, number 742, page 9:
It was unheard-of for those of us who are 30-something or older to have had an openly gay role model when we were young. Homosexuals weren't depicted in the media in a positive light, if at all.
Usage notes
"Homosexual" as a noun is more often applied to males while females are more likely to be described as lesbians.
Many style guides and gay people advise against the use of "homosexual" as a noun; see the usage notes above.
Synonyms
This section is divided into two tables, one containing synonyms that generally are not derogatory and one containing those that generally are. However, note that the non-derogatory terms can nonetheless be used derogatorily, and that some of the derogatory ones are often used humorously and non-derogatorily by gay people and others.
1869, Anonymous [Karl Maria Kertbeny], Paragraph 143 des preußischen Strafgesetzbuches vom 14. April 1851, page 36:
Denn das Wort „Entartung“ bezog sich ohne Zweifel auf jene Individuen, welche von solchen homosexualen Leidenschaften befallen sind, und activ sich Personen zu deren Befriedigung suchen[…]
Bei eingehenderer Exploration erklärt sich Pat. für wesentlich doch homosexual, Empfindung und Trieb zum anderen Geschlecht nur für etwas Episodisches, Grobsinnliches. So leide sie zwar gegenwärtig schrecklich unter sexuellen Drängen zu jenem Manne ihrer Umgebung, aber ein edlerer und höherer Genuss sei es ihr, auf eine sanftgerundete, weiche Mädchenwange einen Kuss zu hauchen.
»Wie er aber dann das Resultat seines jünglinghaften Empfindens und Denkens, die Frucht jahrelanger Isoliertheit und melancholischer Anwandlungen, die Stimmung einer ganz reinen, von sinnlichen Regungen freien, fast homosexual gearteten, dabei glücklich und heiter veranlagten Seele in seinen lehrhaften Gesängen und Preisungen einer menschenumfassenden, selbstlosen Nächstenliebe aushauchte und ausströmte, […] «