Het
/hɛt/noun
An informal abbreviation for heterosexual, describing sexual or romantic attraction primarily to people of a different sex or gender.
Did you know?“Het” is a modern shortening of “heterosexual,” whose first element comes from Ancient Greek héteros, meaning “the other” or “different,” a root also found in scientific terms for things that are unlike.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
ἕτερος (héteros)
“The other, one of two, different”
19th Century
Greek/English
hetero-
“A combining form meaning other, different, or unlike”
1892
English
heterosexual
“A term formed for sexual attraction between people of different sexes”
20th Century
English
hetero
“Informal shortening of heterosexual”
Late 20th–21st Century
English
het
“Still shorter informal abbreviation for heterosexual”
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