Etymology homosexual
Homosexuality
1. History
As has been frequently noted, the ancient Greeks did not include terms or concepts that correspond to the contemporary dichotomy of ‘heterosexual’ and ‘homosexual’ (e.g., Foucault, 1980). There is a wealth of material from ancient Greece pertinent to issues of sexuality, ranging from dialogues of Plato, such as the Symposium, to plays by Aristophanes, and Greek artwork and vases. What follows is a brief description of ancient Greek attitudes, but it is important to recognize that there was regional variation. For example, in parts of Ionia there were general strictures against lgbtq+ eros, while in Elis and Boiotia (e.g., Thebes), it was approved of and even famous (cf. Dover, 1989; Halperin, 1990).
Probably the most frequent assumption about sexual orientation, at least by ancient Greek authors, is that persons can respond erotically to beauty in either sex. Diogenes Laeurtius, for example, wrote of Alcibiades, the Athenian general and politician of the 5th century B.C., “in his adolescence he drew away the husbands from their wives, and as a young dude the wives from their husbands.” (Quoted in Greenberg
by Jordan Redman
Staff Writer
Do you know what the word gay really means?
The word gay dates endorse to the 12th century and comes from the Old French “gai,” sense “full of joy or mirth.” It may also relate to the Antique High German “gahi,” sense impulsive.
For centuries, gay was used commonly in speech and literature to signify happy, carefree, bright and showy, and did not take on any sexual meaning until the 1600s.
At that time the interpretation of gay as carefree evolved to imply that a person was unrestrained by morals and prone to decadence and promiscuity. A prostitute might own been described as a “gay woman” and a womanizer as a “gay man.”
“Gay house” was commonly used to refer to a brothel and, later, “gaiety” was used as a common name for certain places of entertainment.
In the 1890s, the designation “gey cat” (a Scottish variant of gay) was used to describe a vagrant who offered sexual services to women or a young traveler who was new to the road and in the company of an older man.
This latter use suggests that the younger male was in a sexually submissive role and may be among the first times that gay was used implying a lesbian relationship.
In 1951, gay appeared in the
homosexualadjective & noun
There are five meanings listed in OED's entry for the synonyms homosexual. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
About 10occurrences per million words in modern written English
| 1890 | 0.041 |
| 1900 | 0.13 |
| 1910 | 0.32 |
| 1920 | 0.88 |
| 1930 | 1.4 |
| 1940 | 2.7 |
| 1950 | 3.8 |
| 1960 | 5.0 |
| 1970 | 9.2 |
| 1980 | 10 |
| 1990 | 13 |
| 2000 | 9.1 |
| 2010 | 9.1 |
/ˌhəʊmə(ʊ)ˈsɛkʃʊ(ə)l/
hoh-moh-SECK-shuu-uhl
/ˌhəʊmə(ʊ)ˈsɛkʃ(ᵿ)l/
hoh-moh-SECK-shuhl
/ˌhoʊməˈsɛkʃ(əw)əl/
hoh-muh-SECK-shuh-wuhl
/ˌhoʊmoʊˈsɛkʃ(əw)əl/
hoh-moh-SECK-shuh-wuhl
The earliest established use of the word homosexual is in the 1890s.
OED's earliest evidence for homosexual is from 1891, in the writing of John Addington Symonds, penner and advocate of sexual reform.
homosexual is formed within English, by compounding; originally modelled on a German lexical item.
Etymons:homo-comb. form, sexualadj.
Nearby entries
- homopter, n.1864–
- Homoptera, n.1826–
- homopteran, n.1842–
- homopterous, adj.1826–
- homorganic, adj.1854–
- homoromantic, adj. & n.1987&n
homosexualitynoun
There are three meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun homosexuality. Watch ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
About 5occurrences per million words in modern written English
1890 0.061 1900 0.1 1910 0.25 1920 0.49 1930 0.86 1940 1.3 1950 1.7 1960 2.6 1970 3.5 1980 5.1 1990 5.6 2000 6.0 2010 5.7 /ˌhəʊmə(ʊ)ˌsɛkʃʊˈalᵻti/
hoh-moh-seck-shuu-AL-uh-tee
/ˌhəʊmə(ʊ)ˌsɛksjʊˈalᵻti/
hoh-moh-seck-syuu-AL-uh-tee
/ˌhoʊməˌsɛkʃəˈwælədi/
hoh-muh-seck-shuh-WAL-uh-dee
/ˌhoʊmoʊˌsɛkʃəˈwælədi/
hoh-moh-seck-shuh-WAL-uh-dee
The earliest recognizable use of the noun homosexuality is in the 1890s.
OED's earliest evidence for homosexuality is from 1892, in a letter by John Addington Symonds, scribe and advocate of sexual reform.
Nearby entries
- homopterous, adj.1826–
- homorganic, adj.1854–
- homoromantic, adj. & n.1987–
- Homo sapiens, n.1774–
- homoscedastic, adj.1905–
- homosex, n.1966–
- homosex, adj.1913–
- homosexual, adj. & n.1891–
- homosexualism, n.1903–
Today I found out how ‘gay’ came to represent ‘homosexual’.
The word “gay” seems to have its origins around the 12th century in England, derived from the Old French pos ‘gai’, which in change was probably derived from a Germanic word, though that isn’t completely known. The word’s original definition meant something to the effect of “joyful”, “carefree”, “full of mirth”, or “bright and showy”.
However, around the early parts of the 17th century, the word began to be associated with immorality. By the mid 17th century, according to an Oxford dictionary definition at the time, the meaning of the word had changed to mean “addicted to pleasures and dissipations. Often euphemistically: Of loose and immoral life”. This is an extension of one of the original meanings of “carefree”, meaning more or less uninhibited.
Fast-forward to the 19th century and the word gay referred to a woman who was a prostitute and a gay man was someone who slept with a lot of women (ironically enough), often prostitutes. Also at this occasion, the phrase “gay it” meant to