Homosexual - meaning and definition
Alsohomosexualityhomosexuals
Definition
An older, clinical term for being attracted to people of the same gender. Most people now prefer "gay" or "lesbian" in everyday use.
At a glance
- An older, clinical word for same-gender attraction.
- Long used in medical and legal texts that treated it as an illness or a crime.
- Removed from the main psychiatric diagnostic manuals in the 1970s.
- Most people and style guides now prefer gay, lesbian or same-sex attracted.
- Still appears in research, law and some other languages.
In detail
The word homosexual was coined in the nineteenth century and was used for decades in medical and legal texts that treated same-gender attraction as an illness or a crime. Homosexuality was removed from the main psychiatric diagnostic manuals in the 1970s and later from the World Health Organization's classification.
Because of that history, many people find "homosexual" cold or stigmatising when used about them, and style guides generally recommend "gay", "lesbian" or "same-sex attracted" instead. It still appears in research, legal texts and some languages where it carries less weight.
In a sentence
- My grandad still says homosexual, so I explained that most people today just say gay.
- The editor replaced homosexual with gay and lesbian throughout the article, following the style guide.
Where the word comes from
Coined in the late 1860s by Karl-Maria Kertbeny, combining Greek homos (same) with Latin sexualis. It spread through nineteenth- and twentieth-century medical and legal writing.
Common questions
Is homosexual an offensive word?
It is not a slur, but many people find it cold or stigmatising because of its long use in texts that described same-gender attraction as a disorder or crime. In everyday speech, gay, lesbian or the person's own label is usually the better choice.
When was homosexuality removed from diagnostic manuals?
It was removed from the main US psychiatric manual in the 1970s and later from the World Health Organization's international classification. Health bodies now treat same-gender attraction as a normal variation.