What does neuter mean?

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Everyone has actually heard the term "neuter" - be it in grammar or in biology. Everyone knows it has something to do with gender. But what exactly does the word mean?

Neuter - word meaning

The very common word "neuter", like so many other terms, comes from Latin. There is the word "neuter", which means something like "neither of them". This is now a pretty empty phrase, because you don't know right away who the ominous "two" are. But when you know that the neuter relates primarily to gender, it becomes clear that you can understand a neuter as someone or something that has no gender. But what does the term mean in practice now?

That is the common term

Of course there is the concept of the neuter in the biology. There everything that has no gender is referred to as neutral. In order to find realistic examples, one has to go into the area of elementary particles. Human embryos are also often viewed as neutral in the early stages of development, but this point is debatable.
The use of the word in the
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language, because here all terms that cannot be identified with either "the" or "the" are regarded as neutral. So "the forest" is masculine, "the scales" is feminine, but "the house" or "life" can clearly be described as neutral.
But the term neuter can also be used disparagingly. Often people who don't come across as particularly erotic are referred to as neutrals. This then of course expresses that they have no clear gender characteristics. However, this terminology is extremely sexist and it is better not to use it.
Last but not least, neutrality in conflicts naturally goes back to the term described here, because even those who remain neutral in disputes are on "neither side".