kjønn

From Old Norse kyn (“kin”), from Proto-Germanic *kunją (“kin, family, clan”), from Pre-Germanic *ǵn̥h₁-yo-m, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to produce, to beget, to give birth”). Doublet of kyn.

Cognate with Icelandic kyn, Faroese kyn, Danish køn and Swedish kön.

The sense of grammatical gender is a calque of Latin genus (“birth, origin, lineage”).

• IPA^(key): /çœnː/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -œnː
• Hyphenation: kjønn

kjønn n (definite singular kjønnet, indefinite plural kjønn, definite plural kjønna or kjønnene)

1. (obsolete, only in compounds) kind, species (a type, race or category)
2. (collectively) descendants, lineage (descent in a line from a common progenitor)

   Synonyms: etterkommer, ætt

3. (countable) sex (recognition in humans of aspects of the only two human sexes as a man (adult human male), or a woman (adult human female), and association with a (social) role or set of behavioral and cultural traits, clothing, etc; a category to which a person normally belongs on this basis, including a legal recording of this category. This is the category into which sexually-reproducing organisms are divided on the basis of their reproductive roles in their species)

   naturlig kjønn ― biological sex

   det sterke kjønn ― the stronger sex; men (from Latin sexus potior)

   det svake kjønn ― the weaker sex; women (from Latin sexus sequior)

   det smukke kjønn ― the fairer sex; women (from French le beau sexe)

   det annet kjønn ― the second sex; women (from French le deuxième sexe)

   • 1927 April 14, A-magasinet, page 15:

     mange … interesserer sig for, hvorledes det tidligere sterkere kjøn gaar antrukket

     many… are interested in how the previously stronger sex is dressed

   • 1988, Arild Nyquist, Giacomettis forunderlige reise:

     det svake kjønn er ikke alltid så svakt som du tror, sa bestemoren irritert og skred videre

     the weaker sex is not always as weak as you think, said the grandmother annoyed and moved on

   • 1924, Rudolf Muus, Kristiania forstadsscener og deres skuespillere, page 94:

     en lidenskapelig tilbeder av det smukke kjøn

     a passionate worshiper of the fairer sex

   • 1952, Børre Qvamme, Franz Schubert og hans verk, page 79:

     [Schuberts] oppførsel overfor det smukke kjønn var … så kjølig at Hiittenbrenner trodde at han ikke var tiltrukket av dem i det hele tatt

     [Schubert's] behavior toward the fairer sex was… so cool that Hiittenbrenner thought he was not attracted to them at all

   • 2007 November 18, Per Egil Hegge for Aftenposten‎^{[aftenposten.no]}:

     det var neppe godt for karrieren hvis en historiker interesserte seg for den handlekraft som historiefagets nestor la for dagen i sine forbindelser med det smukke kjønn

     it was hardly good for his career if a historian was interested in the power of action that the history major's nestor showed in his connections with the fairer sex

   • 2004, Fredrik Skagen, En by som ingen ainnen:

     av hensyn til egen bekvemmelighet bedrev vi [mannfolk] hensynsløs undertrykkelse av det annet kjønn

     for the sake of our own convenience, we [men] ruthlessly oppressed the opposite sex

   • 1997, Ola Bauer, Magenta:

     han skjønte at hvis han skulle oppnå kontakt med en vennlig representant for det annet kjønn, så måtte han veie sine ord

     he realized that if he was to make contact with a friendly representative of the second sex, he would have to weigh his words

   • 1930, Sigurd Hoel, Helge Krog, Don Juan, page 23:

     baren er kvinnens eneste jevnbyrdige rivalinne. Den er det tredje kjønn. Intetkjønn

     the bar is the woman's only equal rival. It is the third sex. Neuter

   • 2013 November 15, Agderposten, page 22:

     Tyskland gir nå, som første land i Europa, foreldre mulighet til å krysse av for et «tredje kjønn» på fødselsattesten til barn med utypiske kjønnskarakteristikker

     Germany now, as the first country in Europe, gives parents the opportunity to check for a "third sex" on the birth certificate of children with atypical gender characteristics

   • 2015 April 10, Sosialistisk Venstreparti‎^[sv.no]:

     SV har … innført muligheten for å definere seg som et tredje kjønn i sine medlemslister

     SV has… introduced the possibility of defining itself as a third gender in its member lists

4. (countable) sex (the members of such a category, taken collectively)
   • 1909, Henrik Ibsen, Efterladte Skrifter I, page 312:

     kunstnerinder og kvinder, som driver handel, søger at dølge deres kjøn

     artists and women who trade seek to hide their gender

   • 1918, Amalie Pettersen, Pettersens paa Persroas Pensjonat, page 43:

     men som disse unger i alder fra seks til fjorten, uden forskjel paa kjøn, tal og kasus, huserede i salonen!

     but as these children aged from six to fourteen, without distinction of sex, number and case, housed in the salon!

   • 1917, Knut Hamsun, Markens Grøde II, page 112:

     hendes lange hænder er som morens fulde av ømhet, fulde av kjøn

     her long hands are like her mother's full of tenderness, full of sex

5. (obsolete or literary, uncountable, definite) sex (women; the human female sex and those who belong to it)
   • 1848, Conrad N. Schwach, Erindringer af mit Liv indtil Ankomsten til Throndhjem, page 486:

     Nicolai … var en udmærket smuk mand og gjorde stor lykke hos kjønnet, som han ogsaa var en ivrig tilbeder af

     Nicolai… was a very handsome man and made great happiness among the sexes, of which he was also an avid worshiper

   • 1894, Camilla Collett, Camilla Colletts Skrifter X, page 14:

     talerne til kjønnets pris

     the speakers at the price of gender

   • 1927, Sigurd Hoel, Syndere i sommersol, page 47:

     [de] lo efter kjønnets skik høit og lydelig av ingenting

     [they] laughed according to the custom of sex loudly and loudly out of nowhere

6. (uncountable) erotic temperament; sexuality (the quality of being sexual; that which is characterized or distinguished by sex)
   • 1957, Paul Gjesdahl, Premièrer og portretter, page 88:

     Aase Bye var Estelle. Hun er bare kjønn – og så litt rå forstand

     Aase Bye was Estelle. She's just sexuality - and so a little raw sense

   • 1891, Arne Garborg, Trætte Mænd, page 58:

     det er de stygge som elskes mest. De har mest kjøn

     it is the ugly who are loved the most. They have the most erotic temperament

   • 1954, Agnar Mykle, Lasso rundt fru Luna, page 205:

     når det ikke var kjønn mellom dem, hadde de intet å si til hverandre

     when there was no sex between them, they had nothing to say to each other

7. (countable, literary) sex, genitalia (penis or vagina)
   • 1957, Axel Jensen, Ikaros, page 64:

     kjønnet hans stod truende fra den svarte hårkransen

     his sex stood menacing from the black hair wreath

   • 1967, Agnar Mykle, Largo, page 69:

     han stod bak henne [kua] med vrengt, hamrende kjønn

     he stood behind her [the cow] with the inverted, hammering sex

   • 1991, Erik Fosnes Hansen, Falketårnet, page 58:

     han så nedover seg selv og så kjønnet peke stivt ut i luften

     he looked down at himself and saw the sex pointing stiffly in the air

   • 1992, Vigdis Hjorth, Fransk åpning, page 15:

     [hun hadde] dynen halvveis over seg, så kjønnet hennes syntes

     [she had] the duvet half over her, so her sex could be seen

   • 1968, Bjørg Vik, Det grådige hjerte, page 36:

     kjønnet hans [vil] synke som en trist hundelabb fra fanget hennes

     his sex [will] sink like a sad dog paw from her lap

   • 1997, Hanne Ørstavik, Kjærlighet, page 131:

     hun kommer borti kjønnet hans, det er stivt

     she comes across his sex, it's stiff

   • 1997, Gunnar Staalesen, 1900 Morgenrød:

     han førte hånden utålmodig ned til kjønnet hennes

     he brought his hand impatiently down to her sex

8. (grammar) gender (a division of nouns and pronouns (and sometimes of other parts of speech) into masculine or feminine, and sometimes other categories like neuter or common, and animate or inanimate)

   adjektivene bøyes i kjønn, tall og grad

   the adjectives are inflected in gender, number and degree

   grammatisk kjønn ― grammatical gender

Alternative or dialectal form of tjern (“small lake (in a forest or mountain)”), from Old Norse tjarn n, tjǫrn f (“small lake, pond, tarn; pool”), from Proto-Germanic *ternō (“a mountain lake without tributaries; watering hole; small pool”), from Proto-Indo-European *der- (“to split, to separate; to tear, to crack, to shatter”).

kjønn n (definite singular kjønnet, indefinite plural kjønn, definite plural kjønna or kjønnene)

1. (dialectal) pronunciation spelling of tjern

• “kjønn” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “kjønn_1” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “kjønn_2” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “kjønn” in Store norske leksikon
• “kjønn (planter)” in Store norske leksikon
• “kjønn (menneske)” in Store norske leksikon

• IPA^(key): /çœnː/

From earlier and Old Norse kyn, from Proto-Germanic *kunją. The grammatical sense is a calque of Latin genus (“birth, origin, lineage”).

kjønn n (definite singular kjønnet, indefinite plural kjønn, definite plural kjønna)

1. (collectively, now dated) descendants, (downward) lineage
2. (biology) sex or gender

   Kva er kjønnet på det?

   What is its sex?

3. sex organ; genitalia
4. (uncountable) erotic temperament
5. (dialectal) a seed; seed potato
6. (grammar, linguistics) gender

   Synonym: genus

• kyn

From Old Norse tjǫrn, from Proto-Germanic *ternō.

kjønn f

1. pronunciation spelling of tjørn

• “kjønn” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
• “kjønn”, in Norsk Ordbok: ordbok over det norske folkemålet og det nynorske skriftmålet, Oslo: Samlaget, 1950-2016