gender-neutral

See also: genderneutral and gender neutral

English

Alternative forms

• genderneutral, gender neutral

Etymology

Compound of gender +‎ neutral.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

gender-neutral (comparative more gender-neutral, superlative most gender-neutral)

1. Not having, indicating, or being restricted on the basis of, gender.

   Synonyms: gender-inclusive, genderless, (slang, Australia) gendy nooch, non-gendered, ungendered, unisex

   Antonym: gender-specific

   1. Used by or intended for people of any gender; not restricted to (only one) gender; available to all genders.

      The women's sleeping quarters are on the left side of the dormitory, the men's are on the right; gender-neutral restrooms are located in the middle.

   2. Of words, phrasing, etc.: not indicating or referring to (only one) gender.

      Many modern laws use gender-neutral constructions like "they" in place of the old, supposedly unmarked "he".

      Gender-neutral pronouns like "ey" and "ze" are used by many genderqueer, intersex, and neutrois individuals.

      • 1995 November, Kandis Elliot, “The Androgyne Murders”, in Science Fiction Age‎^[1], volume 4, number 1, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 50–51:

        “ […] Tes name was Iptim Op’tarmk and te was nineteen years old. […]” / Ramant’s brain had to switch gears. Of course he knew that the Vonarians used a gender-neutral pronoun set when referring to themselves, and he’d even practiced it, but when it rolled off Boë’s sweet and mellow tongue it sounded like an alien language.

      • 2022 April 20, “Network News: RSSB to explore new terms to replace 'pilotman'”, in RAIL, number 955, page 16:

        Alongside its vital role of maintaining and reviewing each of the rail industry's 294 technical and safety standards, the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) is about to turn its attention to how to make the term 'pilotman' gender-neutral.

      • 2023 May 22, Kate Connolly, “Bürger*innen? Backlash as Berlin mayor refuses to use gender-neutral language”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

        Berlin’s recently appointed conservative mayor has said he will refuse to use gender-neutral language in office, insisting he wanted to use a language “that everyone understands”.

   3. (grammar) In particular, in languages where words are assigned to one grammatical gender or another: lacking such an assignment. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

      Synonym: epicene

Derived terms

• gender neutrality
• gender-neutralize
• gender-neutrally

 

Translations

not having, indicating, or being restricted on the basis of, gender

• Danish: kønsneutral
• Dutch: genderneutraal (nl)
• Esperanto: genroneŭtrala
• Finnish: sukupuolineutraali (fi)
• French: unigenre (fr)
• Georgian: გენდერ-ნეიტრალური (gender-neiṭraluri)
• German: geschlechtsneutral (de), unisex (de)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kjønnsnøytral

  Nynorsk: kjønnsnøytral

• Russian: ге́ндерно-нейтра́льный (ru) (géndɛrno-nejtrálʹnyj)
• Swedish: könsneutral (sv)

grammar: lacking gender assignment

• Dutch: geslachtsloos (nl)
• Finnish: suvuton (fi)
• French: épicène (fr)
• German: geschlechtslos (de)
• Latin: agenus, insexus
• Russian: неродово́й (ru) (nerodovój)

See also

• common gender