sex

Sex is the biological trait of a reproducing organism in producing gametes of one of two different sizes or shapes—male or female gametes. Thus, the typical classification for such organisms, their sex, is also known as either male or female. During sexual reproduction, a male and a female gamete fuse to form a zygote, which develops into an offspring that inherits traits from each parent. By convention, organisms that produce smaller gametes are called male, while organisms that produce larger gametes are called female. An organism that produces both types of gamete is a hermaphrodite.