Table of Contents
Definition of Sex Assigned at Birth
(noun) The label, typically male or female, given to an infant based on medical standards for sex characteristics.
Sex Assigned at Birth Pronunciation
Syllabification: sex as·signed at birth
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /sEks uh-sIEnd uht bUHRth/
- British English – /sEks uh-sIEnd UHt bUHRth/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /sɛks əˈsaɪnd æt bɜrθ/
- British English – /sɛks əˈsaɪnd æt bɜːθ/
Usage Notes
- Plural: sexes assigned at birth
- Abbreviation: SAAB
- These standards are based on external genital appearance. Some nations such as Germany are now allowing infants to be categorized as intersex at birth.
- MAAB indicates male assigned at birth and FAAB indicates female assigned at birth.
Additional Information
- Role Theory Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Sex and Gender Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “sex” and “assign” and “at” and “birth” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Rosenblum, Karen Elaine, and Toni-Michelle Travis. 2016. The Meaning of Difference: American Constructions of Race, Sex and Gender, Social Class, Sexual Orientation, and Disability. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Related Terms
Cite the Definition of Sex Assigned at Birth
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2017. “sex assigned at birth.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 24, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/sex-assigned-at-birth/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
sex assigned at birth. (2017). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/sex-assigned-at-birth/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2017. “sex assigned at birth.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 24, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/sex-assigned-at-birth/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“sex assigned at birth.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2017. Web. 24 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/sex-assigned-at-birth/>.