bisexual
adj. · n.-
1 sexual orientation (adj.) B1 Intermediateattracted to people of your own gender and other genders.
sexually or romantically attracted to both one's own gender and other genders.
ExampleShe came out as bisexual to her friends during their first year of university.
ExampleThe survey aimed to capture the specific healthcare challenges faced by bisexual individuals compared to their monosexual peers.
- bi
- monosexual
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2 biology (adj.) C1 Advanced Technical Sciencehaving both male and female parts in one living thing, like some plants.
possessing both male and female reproductive organs; hermaphroditic.
ExampleMany garden flowers are bisexual because they have both pollen and seeds in the same bloom.
ExampleIn botanical terms, a bisexual flower contains both functional stamens and a functional carpel, allowing for various reproductive strategies.
- hermaphroditic
- androgynous
- unisexual
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3 a person (n.) B1 Intermediatea person who is attracted to more than one gender.
an individual who identifies as having a sexual orientation toward more than one gender.
ExampleThe community centre offers support groups for bisexuals and other queer people.
ExampleThe study explored how bisexuals navigate social spaces that often assume a binary of straight or gay.
- bi
From bi- + -sexual, via the French bisexuel (bi-, sexuel). Attested since 1792 as a synonym in botany for "hermaphroditic" ("having male and female parts"). First used of sexuality in Richard von Krafft-Ebing's 1886 Psychopathia Sexualis (in German) and Charles Gilbert Chaddock's 1892 English translation thereof, due to the theory that people were naturally attracted to the opposite sex and so the brain or mind of a person attracted to "both" sexes (or to the same sex) must be partly of another sex and thus "hermaphroditic".
- Nounbug
- Adjectivebisexual