devout sex:Women collectively; womankind; the female sex . This humorous or sexist term for the female gender dates back to a time when specific qualities were attributed to each gender .
Synonyms: better-sex ; contrary-sex ; fair-sex ; fairer-sex ; gentle-sex ; gentler-sex ; softer-sex ; second-sex ; shrieker-sex ; sterner-sex ; unfair-sex ; weaker-sex .
Quote: Lawrence Paros, The Erotic Tongue (1984): ' 'Sex comes from the Latin secare, "to cut or divide," and we first used the word to designate the two major categories of humanity we have come to know and love as male and female. (...) We later used the word sex not only for dividing the sexes, but to refer to qualities of being male or female. Over time we assigned specific attributes to each category. These distinctions were dutifully recorded in the esteemed OED, making-it all very official. The male was described as "the better" and "the sterner" sex ; the female, as "the fairer," "the gentler," "the softer," and "the devout" sex . Women were also called "the second" sex . For a period of time between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when people spoke of "the sex ," they had women in mind .'
See Also: better sex, contrary sex, deadlier of the species, devout sex, fair sex, fairer sex, gentle sex, gentler sex, second sex, shrieker sex, softer sex, sterner sex, unfair sex, weaker sex, weaker vessel, the
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