Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Sexual orientation to persons of the same sex.
  • noun Sexual activity with another of the same sex.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Perverted sexual desire for one of the same sex.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The state of being sexually and romantically attracted primarily to persons of the same sex.
  • noun Sexual activity with a person of the same sex.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a sexual attraction to (or sexual relations with) persons of the same sex

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

homosexual +‎ -ity.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word homosexuality.

Examples

  • If, for example, homosexuality is objectively wrong, then it is simply irrelevant that a substantial portion of the human race finds homosexual activity pleasurable and satisfying, and that homosexuality* does no one else any material harm.

    The Barefoot Bum 2010

  • That was in the mid-1990s, when the term homosexuality was far from ordinary in Chinese people's life.

    TIME.com: Top Stories 2011

  • Just because the term homosexuality may be modern; the concept was not.

    Dallas Methodist bishop to local pastor: Gay is not exactly OK | RELIGION Blog | dallasnews.com 2009

  • (It is not generally accepted though that lesbians really exist in the Middle East; perhaps that's why in Persian the word for female homosexuality translates as "same-sex playing".)

    Hooman Majd: Jihad vs. McSex 2008

  • And just who the hell are these "many gays and lesbians today" who think "the term homosexuality is considered inappropriate by many gays and lesbians today"?

    Homosexual, Homosexual, Homosexual! 2006

  • And just who the hell are these "many gays and lesbians today" who think "the term homosexuality is considered inappropriate by many gays and lesbians today"?

    Archive 2006-04-01 2006

  • The term homosexuality should be limited to the human species, for in animals the investigator can ascertain only motor behavior.

    THE MEDICAL NEWS Ileonna Matthews 2010

  • The term homosexuality should be limited to the human species, for in animals the investigator can ascertain only motor behavior.

    THE MEDICAL NEWS John Lennon 2010

  • The term homosexuality should be limited to the human species, for in animals the investigator can ascertain only motor behavior.

    THE MEDICAL NEWS Zeigeist2012 2009

  • The term homosexuality should be limited to the human species, for in animals the investigator can ascertain only motor behavior.

    THE MEDICAL NEWS 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Wow. Why's nobody listing this?

    August 5, 2008

  • Why's nobody listing heterosexuality? Probably because they're both such boring words.

    August 5, 2008

  • Well, it was in the database. It came up on the random word feature, but no one had it listed. Usually in those cases, it's misspelled, but this isn't. So I adopted it.

    Edit: I'm considering making a huge ginormous list of boring words. After all, where would we be without them? (Besides, you know, doing something productive instead of hanging around on Wordie?)

    August 5, 2008

  • Nobody's listed bisexuality either. Ambisextrous on the other hand...

    August 5, 2008

  • About 8% of sheep exhibit homosexual preference, so says Wikipedia.

    February 18, 2010

  • Yeah, I've seen them hanging around at the bars.

    February 18, 2010

  • Interesting "Century Dictionary" definition.

    March 22, 2010

  • The Century Dictionary has some fantastic stuff in it, but it was published between 1889 and 1914, and as a result some of its material is archaic and offensive.

    March 23, 2010

  • Oh I know, I wasn't complaining! Still more acceptable than the average YouTube comment.

    March 23, 2010

  • Ha!

    March 23, 2010

  • Wonders what kind of bars reesetee hangs out at....

    March 23, 2010

  • Obviously, the ones with gay sheep in them. Duh.

    March 23, 2010

  • Foxes are permitted, but they must show proper ID.

    March 24, 2010

  • Is there a different bar for a fox in sheep's clothing?

    March 24, 2010

  • And is there dancing?

    March 24, 2010

  • Always dancing. And the room for foxes in sheep's clothing is upstairs. Extra cover charge.

    March 24, 2010

  • Beautiful.

    March 24, 2010

  • Lemme tell ya, in that bar it was Friday night.

    (John, that video is adorable!)

    March 24, 2010

  • "Fly, lesbian seagull..."

    March 24, 2010

  • New earworm.... :-)

    March 24, 2010

  • Thanks a lot, century dictionary. Why don't you go discriminate against someone your own size!

    October 23, 2010

  • March 1, 2011

  • A source of amusement?!

    What year was this published, Pro?

    March 2, 2011

  • Surprisingly less than 100 years ago. "Dictionary of Anthropology" by David Davies.

    March 2, 2011

  • Sadly, it's not all that surprising.

    March 2, 2011