When did gay come to mean homosexual
Today I found out how ‘gay’ came to mean ‘homosexual’.
The word “gay” seems to have its origins around the 12th century in England, derived from the Old French word ‘gai’, which in turn was probably derived from a Germanic synonyms, though that isn’t completely known. The word’s original definition meant something to the effect of “joyful”, “carefree”, “full of mirth”, or “bright and showy”.
However, around the preceding parts of the 17th century, the word began to be associated with immorality. By the mid 17th century, according to an Oxford dictionary definition at the moment, the meaning of the word had changed to mean “addicted to pleasures and dissipations. Often euphemistically: Of loose and immoral life”. This is an extension of one of the unique meanings of “carefree”, meaning more or less uninhibited.
Fast-forward to the 19th century and the pos gay referred to a woman who was a prostitute and a homosexual man was someone who slept with a lot of women (ironically enough), often prostitutes. Also at this period, the phrase “gay it” meant t
homosexualadjective & noun
There are five meanings listed in OED's entry for the synonyms homosexual. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
About 10occurrences per million words in modern written English
| 1890 | 0.041 |
| 1900 | 0.13 |
| 1910 | 0.32 |
| 1920 | 0.88 |
| 1930 | 1.4 |
| 1940 | 2.7 |
| 1950 | 3.8 |
| 1960 | 5.0 |
| 1970 | 9.2 |
| 1980 | 10 |
| 1990 | 13 |
| 2000 | 9.1 |
| 2010 | 9.1 |
/ˌhəʊmə(ʊ)ˈsɛkʃʊ(ə)l/
hoh-moh-SECK-shuu-uhl
/ˌhəʊmə(ʊ)ˈsɛkʃ(ᵿ)l/
hoh-moh-SECK-shuhl
/ˌhoʊməˈsɛkʃ(əw)əl/
hoh-muh-SECK-shuh-wuhl
/ˌhoʊmoʊˈsɛkʃ(əw)əl/
hoh-moh-SECK-shuh-wuhl
The earliest recognizable use of the word homosexual is in the 1890s.
OED's earliest evidence for homosexual is from 1891, in the writing of John Addington Symonds, author and advocate of sexual reform.
homosexual is formed within English, by compounding; originally modelled on a German lexical item.
Etymons:homo-comb. form, sexualadj.
Nearby entries
- homopter, n.1864–
- Homoptera, n.1826–
- homopteran, n.1842–
- homopterous, adj.1826–
- homorga
COMMENTARY: Why “That’s So Gay” Is Okay…Or Not
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Language is powerful. There are a lot of factors as to what gives it power (love, lust, anger, hate), and we all interpret what we hear differently based on our own experiences, our control prejudices, or whatever mood we happen to be in at the time. In this night and age, or at least in my own little social atmosphere, people seem to be more sensitive to language than they’ve ever been.
Words, phrases, and expressions that have historically been PC are no longer acceptable, depending on whom you’re speaking to. Some people think we’re in a language revolution, aggressively ridding the world of hurtful words and phrases for the betterment of mankind. Others assume people are hypersensitive, creating a tense environment by making others hesitant to speak their minds even if what they hold to say is harmless.
Some words and phrases are definitely not okay to say, agreed upon by the general public living in modern society (e.g. several different ways to describe shadowy people
The History of the Pos 'Gay' and other Queerwords Lesbians may have a longer linguistic history than gay men. Contrary to the incomplete information given in the OED, the word lesbian has meant “female homosexual” since at least the early eighteenth century. William King in his satire The Toast (published 1732, revised 1736), referred to “Lesbians” as women who “loved Women in the same Way as Men love them”. During that century, references to “Sapphic lovers” and “Sapphist” meant a girl who liked “her control sex in a criminal way”. For centuries before that, comparing a lady to Sappho of Lesbos implied passions that were more than poetic.
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