Definition & Meaning of "gender"

Gender

the fact or condition of being male, female or non-binary that people identify themselves with based on social and cultural roles

Example

Her research focused on the impact of gender on career opportunities in tech industries.

Gender stereotypes can limit personal freedom and career choices for both men and women.

(grammar) a class of words indicating whether they are feminine, masculine, or neuter

What is "gender"?

Gender is a grammatical category that classifies nouns, pronouns, and adjectives based on their association with masculine, feminine, or neuter qualities. This classification can affect word forms and agreement in a sentence. For example, in languages like Spanish and French, nouns are often assigned a gender, such as "doctor," which can be "médico" for a male doctor and "médica" for a female doctor in Spanish. In English, gender is less prominent, but it still appears in pronouns, such as "he" for masculine and "she" for feminine. Understanding gender is important for maintaining grammatical agreement and clarity in communication.

Example

In many languages, such as Spanish and French, nouns are assigned a gender — either masculine or feminine — regardless of the actual gender of the object they represent.

German is unique in that it also includes a neuter gender, in addition to masculine and feminine, for classifying nouns.