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sex change

sex change

15 4.2
A medical operation and hormone treatment to make a person's body match the gender they feel
  • noun
  • /sɛks ʧeɪndʒ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : cambio de sexo
  • I leave... ...$2,700... ...from my $10,000 life insurance policy... ...to be used... ...for your sex change operation.
  • bidirectional sex change
  • protandrous sex change

Countries that were promoting this idea of a sex change, which we all know isn't real anyway.

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Examples

  • Some intersex people choose to live as men or women and have sex change operations.

    Blog text (29)
  • Have you considered a sex change?

  • Now if you want a sex change, I'll find you a doctor.

  • The procedure I'll perform is commonly referred to as a sex change operation.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • And he got a taxpayer funded sex change surgery thanks to her.

  • The most recent documents record events a few years after Veronica's sex change in 1981.

    Academic text (2012)
  • Stenographer Gordon Simley had a sex change operation, and is now a switch-hitter for the Atlanta Braves.

  • In 1972, Morris, who was born male, underwent a sex change operation and became a woman.

  • Last I heard, he became a candidate for a sex change operation.

  • Now if you want a sex change, I'll find you a doctor.

Synonyms

sex-change operation
vssex change
  • Archaic
6 5.7

Medical treatment with surgery and hormones that helps a person live as a different gender

is a broader process term including surgery and hormone treatment
transsexual surgery
vssex change
  • Archaic
1 6.6

Operations and hormone treatment that change a person's body so it looks more like a man or a woman

focuses on aligning physical characteristics with personal gender identity
trans-testicle surgery
vssex change
  • Specialized
9.1

An operation to remove or change the testicles as part of a gender transition

covers the full set of procedures to change sexual characteristics generally

How Extensive

sex-change operation
  • Archaic
6 5.7
sex change
  • Specialized
15 4.2
hormone replacement therapy
  • Specialized
3.7

Surface Forms

sex change singular
sex changes plural

Morphology

sex + change

The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'sex' (biological classification) + 'change' (the act of becoming different), so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to changing one's sex or a procedure to do so. This compound is semantically transparent and has close parallels in many languages, making it immediately comprehensible to B1 learners.

Etymology

The noun sex change comes from the simple picture of sex as the body's male or female parts and change meaning to make different. It refers to medical steps, often surgery and hormones, that alter the body so it matches how a person feels, so it means 'a medical procedure to change a person's physical sex'.