What does coed

Filters 0. Words form: co-ed coeds. See word origin. Of or relating to an education system in which both men and women attend the same institution or classes; coeducational. The definition of coed is coeducational and is something that is available to both men and women. A coed is defined as a female student. A female college student is an example of a coed. Save This Word! See synonyms for coed on Thesaurus. Older Use. We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Origin of coed —90, Americanism ; short for coeducational student. Etymonline's estimate is off by a couple of decades. There are a few other sources that also cover this topic; but all they do is parrot the correct dictionary definition rather than provide any real insight into the why and how of the question. The process is called metonymy , calling the members of a set something associated with that set.

A student of a type of educational system is called by the name of the system. But this doesn't explain why only females are called by this term. Even though logically both males and females in a co-educational environment could be called 'co-eds', only females were. At the time of adoption of this word the late 19th c , most colleges were predominately male, and for the college to become 'co-educational' the newer students who were also much fewer in number, were the females.

Since the newer set is the exceptional case, the metonymy only applied to the marked case, the females. The formal explanation: "The process is called metonymy, calling the members of a set something associated with that set. It is of no significance that the use of the word "coed" to identify a woman was at times defamatory, hip, sexy, or neutral.

What is stated here is a verifiable answer for how female students came to be called coeds. In this context, men were "educated" and women were "CO-educated. The addition of female students to formerly all-male schools made the schools coeducational. The female students were thus referred to by the incumbent male population as coeds , because it was the female students' enrollment that made a school coeducational. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top.

Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Why does 'coed' only mean female coeducational students? Ask Question. Asked 9 years ago. Active 5 years, 4 months ago. Need even more definitions? Homophones, Homographs, and Homonyms The same, but different. Ask the Editors 'Everyday' vs.

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