Lexicon
This page briefly explains many common terms seen on the AVEN site and community.
This list is by no means complete. Help AVENwiki by expanding it!
- acephobia: Fear or hatred of asexuals or asexuality.
- amoeba: One of many biologically asexual microorganisms, but also a word used informally to denote an asexual.
- aro: Someone who is aromantic.
- Asexual: A person who does not experience sexual attraction.
- asexy: An informal word for asexual; describes someone or something that is made more attractive by her/his/its lack of sexuality.
- AVENite, also AVENista: A member of the AVEN forums.
- demisexual: A person who experiences sexual attraction only to people with whom they are in an close relationship, often a romantic one[1].
- gray-A: A person in the gray area between sexuality and asexuality.
- indifferent: 1) used by some asexual individuals to indicate that they feel neither revulsion toward nor powerful desire to engage in sex. 2) also can be taken to mean they are indifferent toward the idea of sex in general.
- repulsed: A term used by some asexual individuals to indicate that they find sex disgusting or revolting.
- sex-negative: see antisexual.
- sex-positive: A term used by some members of the asexual community to mean that they do not mind if people engage in sexual activities as long as those activities are consensual.
- antisexual: Being opposed to sexuality, or someone for whom this is true. An antisexual person may or may not be asexual.
- autosexual: A person who only experiences sexual attraction to him/herself.
- autochorisexual: A person who can be aroused by sexual material and may masturbate, fantasize and/or watch porn but has no desire to seek a partner or have sexual interactions themselves.
- celibate: Someone who does not engage in sexual activity. Separate from sexual orientation.
- compulsory sexuality: The belief that everyone should be either sexually available or in a sexual relationship.[3]
- nonlibidoism: Not having a sex drive/libido.
- primary sexual attraction: Instant sexual attraction.
- primary sexual desire: Wanting to engage in sexual activity for the purposes of pleasure.
- queer: An umbrella term that refers to those who are not heterosexual, heteronormative, or cisgender.
- secondary sexual attraction: Sexual attraction based on the strength of a relationship.
- secondary sexual desire: Wanting to engage in sexual activity for reasons other than pleasure.
- sexual: A person who experiences sexual attraction, a person who is not asexual (i.e. a heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, etc.). Also called allosexual.
Romantic orientations
- amatonormativity: The belief that romantic relationships are superior to non-romantic ones and friendships.[3]
- aromantic: A person who does not experience romantic attraction.
- biromantic: Someone who is romantically attracted to two different sexes or genders, may be sexual or asexual
- crush: A (possibly temporary) romantic attraction to someone, that may or may not be acted upon
- heteroromantic: Someone who is romantically attracted to people of the opposite sex or gender, may be sexual or asexual
- homoromantic: Someone who is romantically attracted to people of the same sex or gender, may be sexual or asexual
- lithromantic: Someone who experience romantic attraction but does not want their feelings to be reciprocated
- monoamory: Having just one intimate relationship. Compare to polyamory
- panromantic: Romantically attracted to others regardless of gender
- polyamory: Having more than one intimate relationships simultaneously with all partners concerned. Compare to monoamory
- queerplatonic: A non-romantic relationship based on platonic love that is stronger than friendship
- zucchini: A partner in a queerplatonic relationship.
- sex: a person's biological state, decided by genitalia or chromosomes
- agender: having neither male nor female gender, or not associating with any gender
- androgynous: identifying or presenting between male and female in the gender binary.
- androsexual: sexual orientation of anyone who has sexual feelings towards a man
- bigender: having a gender identity or expression which is both male and female, either simultaneously or alternating
- cisgender: having the same gender as the one assigned at birth
- demigirl: a person who feels more strongly associated with female than male or any other gender, but not strongly enough to justify an absolute self-identification as female, or, someone who identifies as anything but female, aside from a small part of them that does. [Disputed, in discussion]
- demiguy: opposite of demigirl
- female: a gender or sex identity (♀)
- FtM: (female to male transsexual, trans man) a person who identifies as male, but was assigned a female sex at birth
- genderfluid: moving between different gender identities or expressions at different times or situations
- genderless: not having a gender identity
- genderqueer: 1) having a gender identity that is self-defined as queer or non-normative (usually falls outside the gender binary). 2) an umbrella term for non-binary gender identities
- gynosexual: sexual orientation of anyone who has sexual feelings towards a woman
- intersex: having a physical sex which is neither male nor female
- male: a gender or sex identity (♂)
- MtF: (male to female transsexual, trans woman) a person who identifies as female, but was assigned a male sex at birth
- neutrois: an agender or neutral-gendered person who may seek to be without the physical characteristics of their sex and to remove gender cues, and who may experience gender dysphoria much like transsexuals
- pangender: having a gender identity or expression that encompasses all the genders, either simultaneously or alternating
- transgender: an umbrella term for those who have gender identities transcending the limits of society's conceptualization of gender. Can include non-binary and binary-gender identified people
- transsexual: an individual who identifies with a physical sex different from the one that assigned at birth
- transyada or yada: on AVEN, a general self-identification for those outside of the gender binary
Dated asexual terminology
- AS3: a sexual person who is supportive of asexuality; also an imaginary stamp given to such people ("Asexuals in Support of Supportive Sexuals").
- bi-asexual: a shortened form of the more commonly used term, biromantic asexual
- gay-A: another term for a homoromantic asexual
- hetero-asexual: a shortened form of the more commonly used term, heteroromantic asexual
- homo-asexual: a shortened form of the more commonly used term, homoromantic asexual
- hyposexual: Having a low sex drive
- ineffable: cannot or should not be expressed in spoken words
- effanineffable: bard of aven explains: Well, the dictionary definition is "unable to be expressed in words." And ... T. S. Eliot used it to speak of cats contemplating their "ineffable, effable, effanineffable" names. My theory is that effan is as close as you could get to having "fucking" printed in a book of poetry when he was writing. So if the first [e]ff stans for "fuck", why shouldn't the second? (introduced in this thread)
- 53x+m³=Ø: An equation by Shockwave used on some products in the AVEN store - it translates as "sex + me = no result"
- straight-A: another term for a heteroromantic asexual