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Glite Dictionary
unisexual

unisexual

7.7
Having only one sex, as in plants that make only male or female flowers
  • adjective
  • /ˌjuːnɪˈsɛkʃuəl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : unisexual
  • Some animals, such as certain species of fish, are classified as unisexual because they are exclusively male or female.
  • unisexual flowers

Examples

  • In many species, plants can have unisexual flowers, meaning they produce either male or female reproductive structures, but not both.

  • Ceratophyllum is a water-pollinated dicot with minute unisexual flowers.

    Academic text (1996)

  • - Maybe unisexual would be a more appropriate term.

    An Unmarried Woman (1978)

  • At one time, unisexual love was considered the norm.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Most species of precious coral are unisexual or dioecious, i.e., the sexes are separate.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Research shows that a significant number of marine organisms exhibit unisexual characteristics, leading to fascinating evolutionary studies.

Antonyms

hermaphroditic
  • Specialized
1 9.5

An animal or plant that has both male and female sex organs

How Many Sexes

hermaphroditic
  • Specialized
1 9.5
bisexual
76 3.9
unisexual
  • Specialized
7.7

Surface Forms

unisexual positive

Morphology

unisexual = sexual (transparent) = uni + sex + al

Clear combination of the prefix 'uni-' (one) with the adjective 'sexual' to mean 'of one sex', a direct and regular formation.

Etymology

Unisexual comes from the prefix uni- meaning 'one' (as in unicycle) and sexual from 'sex', which means 'male or female'. So, unisexual describes living things that are only one sex or that have only one type of sexual organ.