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May 30, 2012

how to say "gender" in Hebrew


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מִגְדָּר



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We've seen the Hebrew root ג.ד.ר used in its original sense to mean fence - גָּדֵר (gah-DEHR), as well as in a modern application to mean definition or computer setting - הַגְדָּרָה (hahg-dah-RAH).


Another modern application of this Biblical root is the word for gender - מִגְדָּר (meeg-DAHR), since gender places a person into one of two defined or fenced-in denominations.


To use gender as an adjective, you'd say מִגְדָּרִי (meeg-dah-REE) in the masculine and מִגְדָּרִית (meeg-dah-REET) in the feminine.


A couple of examples:


שִׁוְיוֹן מגדרי
gender equality
(sheev-YOHN meeg-dah-REE)


נִתּוּחַ מגדרי
gender analysis
(nee-TOO-ahkh meeg-dah-REE)


זֶהוּת מגדרית
gender identity
(zeh-HOOT meeg-dah-REET)


Gender in the grammatical sense is מִין (meen).





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