secondary sexual characteristic
- secondary sexual characteristic
noun
the genetically determined sex characteristics that are not functionally necessary for reproduction (pitch of the voice and body hair and musculature)
* * *
any one of the characteristics which appear in both sexes at puberty, such as the growth of breasts and pubic hair in females, and the growth of the genitals and facial hair in males. They are called secondary because these characteristics are not directly involved with reproduction.
Useful english dictionary.
2012.
Look at other dictionaries:
secondary sexual characteristic — noun see secondary sex characteristic … New Collegiate Dictionary
secondary sexual characteristic — physical characteristic that develops at puberty but does not directly involve reproduction (such as woman s breasts or man s facial hair) … English contemporary dictionary
secondary sex characteristic — n a physical characteristic (as the breasts of a female mammal or the nuptial plumage of a male bird) that appears in members of one sex at puberty or in seasonal breeders at the breeding season and is not directly concerned with reproduction… … Medical dictionary
secondary sex characteristic — noun the genetically determined sex characteristics that are not functionally necessary for reproduction (pitch of the voice and body hair and musculature) • Syn: ↑secondary sexual characteristic, ↑secondary sex character • Hypernyms: ↑sex… … Useful english dictionary
secondary sex characteristic — noun Date: 1927 a physical characteristic (as the breasts of a female mammal or the breeding plumage of a male bird) that appears in members of one sex at puberty or in seasonal breeders at the breeding season and is not directly concerned with… … New Collegiate Dictionary
sexual characteristic — noun those characteristics (both anatomical and psychological) that are strongly associated with one sex relative to the other • Syn: ↑sex characteristic, ↑sex character • Hypernyms: ↑feature, ↑characteristic • Hyponyms: ↑ … Useful english dictionary
Secondary sex characteristic — Secondary sex characteristics are traits that distinguish the two sexes of a species, but that are not directly part of the reproductive system. They are believed to be the product of sexual selection for traits which give an individual an… … Wikipedia
secondary sex character — noun the genetically determined sex characteristics that are not functionally necessary for reproduction (pitch of the voice and body hair and musculature) • Syn: ↑secondary sex characteristic, ↑secondary sexual characteristic • Hypernyms: ↑sex… … Useful english dictionary
Sexual selection — This article is about the evolutionary concept. For the selection of the sex of offspring, see sex selection. Goldie s Bird of paradise: Ornamented male above; female below. Paradesia decora by John Gerrard Keulemans (d.1912) Sexual selection, a… … Wikipedia
Sexual dimorphism — Female (left) and male Common Pheasant, illustrating the dramatic difference in both color and size between sexes Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include… … Wikipedia
