Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - gender

 I. noun  Etymology: Middle English gendre, from Anglo-French genre, gendre, from Latin gener-, genus birth, race, kind, ~ — more at kin  Date: 14th century  1.  a. a subclass within a grammatical class (as noun, pronoun, adjective, or verb) of a language that is partly arbitrary but also partly based on distinguishable characteristics (as shape, social rank, manner of existence, or sex) and that determines agreement with and selection of other words or grammatical forms  b. membership of a word or a grammatical form in such a subclass  c. an inflectional form showing membership in such a subclass  2.  a. sex the feminine ~  b. the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex  II. verb  (~ed; ~ing)  Etymology: Middle English gendren, from Anglo-French gendrer, from Latin generare — more at generate  Date: 14th century en~