Earliest English-Language Usage of "Homosexual"

[Fred Shapiro]

On Thu, 6 Feb 2003 Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote [referring to a 1908 source]:

> Pg. 231:  The fifth class is constituted by the onanism of sexual
> inverts, and may be called _essential onanism_.  This concerns men whose
> sexual appetite is directed toward their own sex instead of the other.
> They are called _homosexual_, and mutual onanism is, so to speak, the
> normal satisfaction of their inverted appetite. (OED has "homosexual"
> from 1892, but see "B" of that definition, from 1912--ed.)

Barry is referring to the word "homosexual" used as a noun.  See my 1988
article in American Speech, "Earlier Citations for Terms Characterizing
Homosexuals," for an 1892 citation for "homosexual" as a noun:

1892 _Chicago Medical Recorder_ III. 198-99  Pure homosexuals ... general
mental state is that of the opposite sex.

OED's first use of "homosexual" as an adjective is dated 1892 (Chaddock's
translation of Krafft-Ebing).  That translation should correctly be dated
1893.  I have contributed the following antedating of "homosexual" as an
adjective to the OED:

1891 John A. Symonds _A Problem of Modern Ethics_ in Brian Reade _Sexual
Heretics_ (1970) 254  The author [Richard Francis Burton] endeavoured to
co-ordinate a large amount of miscellaneous matter, and to frame a general
theory regarding the origin and prevalence of homosexual passions.

Fred Shapiro


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