Definition

Noun: 1. Sexual characteristic: A physical or psychological feature that is typically associated with being male or female. This includes both primary anatomical features directly involved in reproduction and secondary features that develop during puberty.

Usage

The term "sex character" is a formal or biological term used to categorize and discuss the distinguishing traits of males and females within a species. * Primary sex characters are the reproductive organs themselves. * Secondary sex characters include features like facial hair in human males or the mane of a male lion.

Examples

• The development of sex characters is regulated by hormones.
• In many bird species, brightly colored plumage is a male sex character used to attract mates.
• The study focused on the psychological sex characters associated with different social roles.

Advanced Usage

• The term is often used in the plural ("sex characters") to encompass the full range of traits.
• In scientific literature, it is frequently modified as primary sex character (e.g., testes, ovaries) and secondary sex character (e.g., breast development, voice deepening, body hair patterns).

Variants and Related Words

• Sexual characteristic: A more common modern synonym for "sex character."
• Secondary sexual characteristic: Specifically refers to features that appear during puberty but are not directly part of the reproductive system.

Synonyms

• Sexual characteristic
• Sex difference
• Dimorphic trait (when a characteristic differs between the sexes)

Related Terms (Not Synonyms)

• Gender role: A social and behavioral norm considered appropriate for a particular gender. (This is a sociological concept, distinct from the biological "sex character").
• Sex: The biological classification of an organism as male, female, or intersex, based on reproductive anatomy and genetics.

Noun

1. those characteristics (both anatomical and psychological) that are strongly associated with one sex relative to the other