Sociologists Kristen Schilt and Laurel Westbrook define cisgender as a label for 'individuals who have a match between the gender they were assigned at birth, their bodies, and their personal identity'. In the case of gender, cis- describes the alignment of gender identity with assigned sex. ' Gaul on this side of the Alps'), and more recently Cisjordan (as distinguished from Transjordan). This usage can be seen in the cis– trans distinction in chemistry, the cis and trans sides of the Golgi apparatus in cellular biology, the cis–trans or complementation test in genetics, in the ancient Roman term Cisalpine Gaul (i.e. Etymology and usageĬisgender has its origin in the Latin-derived prefix cis-, meaning 'on this side of', which is the opposite of trans-, meaning 'across from' or 'on the other side of'.

The term cisgender was coined in 1994 and entered into dictionaries starting in 2015 as a result of changes in social discourse about gender. The prefix cis- is Latin and means 'on this side of'. The word cisgender is the antonym of transgender. A cisgender man may not necessarily exhibit all stereotypical masculine traits, and a cisgender woman may not necessarily exhibit all stereotypical feminine traits. Ĭisgender people may or may not conform to gender norms and stereotypes associated with their gender identity. A person whose sex was assigned male at birth and identifies as a boy or a man, or someone whose sex was assigned female at birth and identifies as a girl or a woman, is considered cisgender. A cisgender (can be shortened to cis sometimes cissexual) person has a gender identity that matches their sex assigned at birth.

Meaning of assignment in english