heterosexual
/ˌhetəəʊˈsekʃəwəl/heh-tur-oh-SEK-shuh-wuhl
/ˌhɛtɚoʊˈsɛkʃəwəl/heh-tur-oh-SEK-shuh-wuhl
Meaningdrawn to the other sex
Common meaning: drawn romantically to the other sex
- heteroother of a pair; unlikeLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 591 · scan
- sexualhaving to do with sex
Journey through time
- Greekἕτερος‘other of a pair’
- Englishheterosexual‘drawn romantically to the other sex’ · today
hetero also in: heterogeneousheterogeneouslyheterosexuality
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Greek ἕτερος ‘other of a pair; unlike’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), entry ἕτερος, p. 591 · dictionary scan
Roots
- ἕτερος Greek “other of a pair; unlike”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app