Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “bisexual” come from?

Bisexual comes from English bi- combined with sexual, where bi- derives from Latin bis meaning twice, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dwóh₁ meaning two.

bisexual (English): Sexually attracted to both men and women or to...

Definitions

  1. Sexually attracted to both men and women or to...

Ancestry of “bisexual”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchbisexuelbisexual
2Frenchbi-bi-
3Latinbistwice, two times, on two occasions, in two ways
4Latincolorcolour, shade; color; pigment; complexion
5Ancient Greekμέτρονsomething used to measure: measure, rule, weight;...
6Ancient Greek-τρονForms instrument nouns
7Proto-Hellenic-tronForms instrument nouns from verb stems
8Proto-Indo-European-tromForms nouns denoting a tool or instrument
9Proto-Indo-European-tḗrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...

Words derived from “bisexual”

  • bisexuality
  • bisexually
  • bisexualism
  • nonbisexual
  • bisexualist
  • antibisexual
  • bisexualize
  • bisexualization
  • bisexualness
  • ביסקסואלי
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tḗr →