secondary sex characteristic
noun
: a physical characteristic (such as the breasts of a female mammal or the breeding plumage of a male bird) that appears in members of one sex at puberty or in seasonal breeders at the breeding season and is not directly concerned with reproduction
called also secondary sexual characteristic
Word History
First Known Use
1927, in the meaning defined above
Medical Definition
secondary sex characteristic
noun
: a physical characteristic (as the breasts of a female mammal or the nuptial plumage of a male bird) that appears in members of one sex at puberty or in seasonal breeders at the breeding season and is not directly concerned with reproduction
called also secondary sex character, secondary sexual characteristic