different between asexual vs sterile

English

Etymology

From a- (“lacking, without”) +? -sexual.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /e??s?k?u?l/

Adjective

asexual (not comparable)

1. Nonsexual in nature, unmarked by sexual activity. (Compare Platonic.)
   • 2004, Martha Vicinus, Intimate Friends: women who loved women, 1778-1928, page 150:

     The central paradox of Linton's writing was her inability, or unwillingness, to imagine an asexual friendship between women.

2. Not experiencing sexual attraction; lacking interest in or desire for sex.
   • 2010, Jerrold S. Greenberg, Clint E. Bruess, Sarah C. Conklin, Exploring the Dimensions of Human Sexuality, fourth edition, pages 357–358:

     Many asexual people experience attraction, but feel no need to act out that attraction sexually. Because they don't see a lack of sexual arousal as a problem to be corrected, asexual people focus their energy on enjoying other types of arousal and pleasure.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:asexual.
3. (biology) Lacking distinct sex, lacking sexual organs.
4. (biology) Without sexual action; reproducing by some other method than sex.

   asexual reproduction

Synonyms

• (not experiencing sexual attraction): ace (slang), asexy (slang), hyposexual
• (without sexual features): epicene

Antonyms

• allosexual

Coordinate terms

• (sexual orientations) sexual orientation; asexual (-ity, ace), bisexual (-ity, bi), demisexual (-ity, demi), graysexual (-ity), heterosexual (-ity, straight), homosexual (-ity, gay, lesbian), omnisexual (-ity), pansexual (-ity, pan), plurisexual (-ity), polysexual (-ity), robosexual (-ity), sapiosexual (-ity), androsexual (-ity), gynesexual (-ity) ^{(Category: en:Sexual orientations)}

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

asexual (plural asexuals)

1. (biology) A species which reproduces by asexual rather than sexual reproduction, or a member of such a species.
   • 2009, Isa Schön, Giampaolo Rossetti, Koen Martens, Darwinulid Ostracods: Ancient Asexual Scandals or Scandalous Gossip?, published as Chapter 11 of Lost Sex: The Evolutionary Biology of Parthenogenesis, Isa Schön, Koen Martens, Peter van Dijk (editors), page 221:

     11.2 Demonstrating the Status of Long-Lived Asexuals

     [...] Indeed, if sex has so many advantages, then which special adaptations - if any - allow long-term survival without it? However, the main task of the research teams dealing with such putative ancient asexuals has thus far been to demonstrate that their respective groups (mainly bdelloids, darwinulids and certain lineages within orbatid mites) indeed merit the status.

2. A person who does not experience sexual attraction; a person who lacks interest in or desire for sex.
3. (rare) Something which does not have a sex, or a word which refers to such a thing.
   • 1936, The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, volume 35, page 323:

     […] The masculine forms are used to a considerable extent in congruence with etymologically masculine nouns; also with etymologically feminine asexuals; e.g. se stefn L 9, 36; [...] The neuter forms are used with etymologically neuter nouns; with etymologically masculine asexuals; e.g. þ cyrtil L 6, 29; J 19, 23; þ penning L 20, 24; b?am (Lindelof p. 9) ; st?n (Lindelof p. 11); and with etymologically feminine asexuals; e.g. [...]

Antonyms

• allosexual

See also

• (romantic orientations) romantic orientation; aromantic (-ism), biromantic (-ism), demiromantic (-ism), heteroromantic (-ism), homoromantic (-ism), panromantic (-ism), transromantic ^{(Category: en:Romantic orientations)}
• fission, gemmation

Catalan

Adjective

asexual (masculine and feminine plural asexuals)

1. asexual

Noun

asexual m or f (plural asexuals)

1. asexual

Antonyms

• sexual

Related terms

• asexualitat

Galician

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

asexual m or f (plural asexuais)

1. asexual

Noun

asexual m or f (plural asexuais)

1. asexual

Antonyms

• sexual

German

Etymology

a +? sexual.

Adjective

asexual (not comparable)

1. (uncommon) asexual

Declension

Related terms

• asexuell

Further reading

• “asexual” in Duden online

Romanian

Etymology

English asexual

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [aseksu?al]

Adjective

asexual m or n (feminine singular asexual?, masculine plural asexuali, feminine and neuter plural asexuale)

1. asexual

Declension

Noun

asexual m (plural asexuali)

1. asexual

Declension

Related terms

• asexualitate

Spanish

Etymology

a- +? sexual

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

asexual (plural asexuales)

1. asexual

Derived terms

• asexualidad
• asexualmente

Noun

asexual m or f (plural asexuales)

1. asexual

Further reading

• “asexual” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

English

Etymology

From Middle French stérile, from Latin sterilis (“barren, futile”). See also Ancient Greek ?????? (steîra).

Pronunciation

• enPR: st?r??l, st?r??l"
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?st???l/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?st??a?l/
• Rhymes: -???l, -??a?l

Adjective

sterile (comparative more sterile, superlative most sterile)

1. (not comparable) Unable to reproduce (or procreate).
2. (figuratively) Terse; lacking sentiment or emotional stimulation, as in a manner of speaking.
3. (figuratively) Fruitless, uninspiring, or unproductive.
4. Germless; free from all living or viable microorganisms.

5. Free from dangerous objects, as a zone in an airport that can be only be entered via a security checkpoint.
6. (US, military) Of weapons: foreign-made and untraceable to the United States.
   • 1990, Leroy Thompson, The US Army in Vietnam (page 111)

     In addition to this rapid supply system, the US Army Counterinsurgency Support Office on Okinawa helped procure special equipment including rucksacks, special rations for irregular troops, 'sterile' weapons which could not be traced to the USA and other items not procurable through foreign channels.

Synonyms

• (unable to procreate): barren, infertile

Antonyms

• non-sterile, nonsterile
• unsterile

Related terms

• sterilisation / sterilization
• sterilise / sterilize
• sterilised / sterilized
• sterility

Translations

Anagrams

• Leister, leister, reliest, retiles, treiles

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

sterile

1. inflection of steril:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Interlingua

Adjective

sterile (not comparable)

1. sterile

Italian

Etymology

From Latin sterilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?st?.ri.le/

Adjective

sterile (plural sterili)

1. sterile, barren, unprolific, infertile
2. sterile, sterilized (medicine)
3. vain, pointless
4. unproductive

Related terms

• sterilità
• sterilizzato
• sterilizzazione
• sterilizzare
• sterilire

Further reading

• sterile in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Latin

Adjective

sterile

1. nominative neuter singular of sterilis
2. accusative neuter singular of sterilis
3. vocative neuter singular of sterilis

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

sterile

1. definite singular/plural of steril

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

sterile

1. definite singular/plural of steril