By Jason Pickett
Gender- c.1350, from O.Fr. genre, from stem of L. genus (gen. generis) "kind, sort, gender," used to translate from Gk. Aristotle's grammatical term genos
Human- c.1250, from M.Fr. humain "of or belonging to man," from L. humanus, probably related to homo (gen. hominis) "man," and to humus "earth," on notion of "earthly beings," as opposed to the gods, from P.Gmc. *guman-. Displaced its O.E. cognate guma, which survives only in disguise in bridegroom
It- O.E. hit, neut. nom. & acc. of third pers. sing. pronoun. As gender faded in M.E., it took on the meaning "thing or animal spoken about before;" from P.Gmc. demonstrative base *khi-, which is also the root of he. The h- was lost due to being in an unemphasized position, as in modern speech the h- in "give it to him," "ask her," "is only heard in the careful speech of the partially educated" (Weekley). It "the sex act" is from 1611; meaning "sex appeal (especially in a woman)" first attested 1904 in works of Rudyard Kipling, popularized 1920s as title of a book by Elinor Glyn, and by application of It Girl to silent-film star Clara Bow (1905-1965).
Neuter- 14c., from L. neuter, from ne- "not, no" + uter "either;" probably a loan-translation of Gk. oudeteros "neither, neuter." The verb is 1903, from the adj.
People- c.1280, from Anglo-Fr. people, O.Fr. peupel, from L. populus "people." Replaced native folk.
Person- 12c., from O.Fr. persone "human being," from L. persona "human being," originally "character in a drama, mask," possibly borrowed from Etruscan phersu "mask." The use of -person to replace -man in compounds is first recorded 1971. Personify first recorded 1727
Sex-c.1380, used of either males or females collectively, from L. sexus "state of being either male or female, gender," perhaps related to secare "to divide or cut." Meaning "quality of being male or female" first recorded 1526. Meaning "sexual intercourse" first attested 1929 (in writings of D.H. Lawrence); sexy first recorded 1925, originally "engrossed in sex;" sense of "sexually attractive" is 1932. Sex appeal first recorded 1924; sex drive is from 1918; sex object and sex symbol both first attested 1911. Sexpot is from 1954. Sexist is from 1965