unisexual

[ yoo-nuh-sek-shoo-uhl ]

adjective

1. of or relating to one sex only.
2. having only male or female organs in one individual, as an animal or a flower.
3. unisex.

unisexual

/ ˌjuːnɪˈsɛksjʊəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to one sex only
2. (of some organisms) having either male or female reproductive organs but not both

unisexual

/ yo̅o̅′nĭ-sĕk′sho̅o̅-əl /

1. Having the sex organs of only one sex; not hermaphroditic. Used of organisms.
2. Having stamens and pistils in separate flowers borne on the same plant; diclinous. Used of flowers.

Derived Forms

• ˌuniˌsexuˈality, noun
• ˌuniˈsexually, adverb

Other Words From

• uni·sexu·ali·ty noun
• uni·sexu·al·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of unisexual¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; uni- + sexual

Example Sentences

Sun and Duke mycologist Joseph Heitman have described unisexual reproduction in detail in the single-celled fungus Cryptococcus, and researchers in Germany recently documented it in an edible species.

From Science Magazine

A key limitation of this study, both Greenwald and Neiman point out, is that the researchers didn't compare the regeneration rates of the unisexual salamanders with those of which they share a genome.

From National Geographic

These include unisexual whiptail lizards and deadbeat cassowary moms, which abandon hatchlings to Dad’s care.

From Washington Post

Several Ambystoma species are unisexual – that is, they consist only of parthenogenetic females.

From Scientific American

Staminate and pistillate flowers variously disposed, some of the spikes often unisexual.

From Project Gutenberg