在论证形容词“性的（sexual）”开始出现的史料之前，我们必须先介绍名词“性（sex）”。就英语来说，名词“性”于1392年由约翰·威克里夫及其翻译组从拉丁文版《圣经》翻译而来。在这个英文译文里，诺亚为他的方舟从每一种动物中挑选了两只样本动物“雄性动物和雌性动物（the maal sex and femaal）” （创世纪第6章第9节）。在此处，词语“性（sex）”只是表达诸如类别、分类、种类、分级、类型、物种或品种这样的意思。事实上，直到18世纪晚期，这个词语常常与“派别、派系（sect）”用于表达同一个含义，即指一群同伙、同宗、同派、同一集团、同一种姓或者同一学派。

Introduction - What is sexual behavior?

History of the Term  1

Before the adjective "sexual" could even come into existence, the noun "sex" had to be introduced. For the English language, this was accomplished by a translation from the Latin Bible in 1382 by John Wycliffe and his team. In this translation, Noah selects two specimens of every animal for his ark “the maal sex and femaal” (Genesis 6:19). Here the word "sex" simply meant something like sort, set, kind, class, type, race, or breed. In fact, until well into the 18th century the word was often used in the same sense as the word "sect," i.e., as referring to a group of followers, a denomination, faction, caste, or school.