Sex organ

A sex organ, or primary sexual characteristic, narrowly defined, is any of those anatomical parts of the body (which are not always bodily organs according to the strict definition) which are involved in sexual reproduction and constitute the reproductive system in a complex organism; namely:

Male: penis (notably the glans penis), prepuce, testicles, scrotum, prostate, seminal vesicles, epididymis, Cowper's glands
Female: vulva (notably the clitoris and labia), vagina, cervix, uterus, Fallopian tubes, ovaries, Skene's glands, Bartholin's glands.

More generally and popularly, the term "sex organ" refers to any part of the body involved in their and/or their partner's erotic pleasure. The larger list would certainly include the anus for either sex, the prepuce, the breasts (especially the nipples) for females, and the nipples for males.

The Latin term genitalia, sometimes anglicized as genitals, is used to describe the sex organs, and in the English language this term and genital area are most often used to describe the externally visible sex organs, known as primary genitalia or external genitalia: in males the penis and scrotum, in females the vulva. The other sex organs are called the secondary genitalia or internal genitalia. An even wider notion, subjective but always prominently including the genitalia, is erogenous zones.

A gonad is a sex organ that produces gametes, specifically the testes or ovaries in humans.

Organs of sexual anatomy originate from a common anlage and differentiate into male or female sex organs. The SRY gene, usually located on the Y chromosome and encoding the testis determining factor, decides the direction of this differentiation. Each sexual organ in one sex has a homologous counterpart in the other one. See a list of homologues of the human reproductive system.

Anatomical terms related to sex

The following is a list of anatomical terms related to sex and sexuality:

areola
Bartholin's gland -- breast -- bulbocavernosus muscle -- bulbospongiosus muscle -- bulbourethral gland
cervix -- clitoris -- common penile artery -- corona glandis -- corpora cavernosa -- corpus cavernosum -- corpus spongiosum -- Cowper's glands-- cremaster muscle
dartos muscle -- ductus deferens
ejaculatory duct -- endometrium -- epididymis
Fallopian tube -- foreskin -- frenulum -- frenulum preputii penis -- frenulum labiorum pudendi -- frenulum clitoridis -- frenum -- fundiform ligament
G-spot -- Gartner's duct -- genital tubercle -- genitofemoral nerve -- glans -- glans penis -- Gräfenberg spot
hymen
internal pudendal artery -- ischiocavernosus muscle
labium -- labia majora -- labia minora
mammae -- mammary gland -- meatus -- mons veneris -- Mullerian duct
nipple
ovary -- ovum -- oviducts
penis -- perineum -- prepuce -- prostate -- pubic hair -- pubic symphysis -- pubococcygeus muscle -- pudendal nerve
raphe -- ridged band
scrotum -- seminal vesicles -- semeniferous tubules -- Skene's glands -- sperm -- spermatic cord -- sphincter urethrae membranaceae -- splanchnic nerves
testes -- testicle -- tunica albuginea
urethra -- urethral sponge -- urogenital diaphragm -- uterus
vas deferens -- vagina -- vesiculae seminales -- vomeronasal organ -- vulva
Wolffian duct

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Anatomical terms related to sex

See also