Root word homo in homosexual? Is there a word like misandry specifically for gay men?



I'm confused why homosexual is used to refer to gay people. From my understanding homo means human? As in homosapien.


Also is there a term like misandry specifically for gay men?



Answer



Homo means "man" in Latin and "same" in Greek. The former is used in homo sapiens as referring to our species and translates to "wise person", while the Greek is used in homosexual.


The reason homosexual is used to refer to gay people is because it means



Sexually attracted to the same (sex/gender)



Heterosexual, its opposite, means



Sexually attracted to the other



if you translate it literally.


I'm not aware of any gay-specific term for misandry. I think if you wanted to denote a more specific hatred for gay men you'd just use the term homophobia instead.


(Thanks to Yay for corrections regarding the meanings of homo and sapiens, as well as the difference between the Latin and Greek meanings)


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