生物學：不靠性繁殖
把「缺少的那一塊」放在繁殖上：少掉的是第二個親代。這是這個字最早、也最具體的一支。
adjective · B2
Used in biology about a living thing that has no sexual organs, or about a way of making new life that does not involve a male and a female.
無性的
核心畫面
You can think of asexual as a word with a hole in it. Sexual names one whole side of life — bodies pairing up, attraction, making young from two parents — and the small piece a- in front says: that side is absent here. What is left over depends on what you are pointing at. Point at a cell, and what is absent is the second parent, so the cell splits and copies itself. Point at a friendship or a picture, and what is absent is desire, so only closeness or plainness is left. Point at a person, and what is absent is the pull of attraction, while the caring and the love stay exactly where they were.
可以想成 asexual 是一個中間挖掉一塊的字。sexual 指的是生命裡「性」的那一面：雌雄配對、吸引、兩個親代…更多收起
可以想成 asexual 是一個中間挖掉一塊的字。sexual 指的是生命裡「性」的那一面：雌雄配對、吸引、兩個親代生出下一代。前面那個小小的 a- 就是在說：這一塊在這裡不存在。挖掉之後剩下什麼，要看你指的是什麼。指著一個細胞，少掉的是第二個親代，所以它自己分裂、自己複製。指著一段友誼或一張照片，少掉的是情慾，剩下的是親近或素淨。指著一個人，少掉的是那股性方面的吸引力，而在乎和愛都還留在原地。From the word’s history
The word is built from a- (lacking, without), which came into English from Ancient Greek, plus sexual, which goes back through Latin sexualis to sexus. So the shape of the word is exactly the shape of the meaning: sexual with the a- of absence in front of it.
這個字由 a-（沒有、缺少，經由古希臘文進入英文）加上 sexual（性的，經拉丁文 sexualis 回到 sexus）組成。字的結構就等於意思的結構：在 sexual 前面放上一個表示「缺少」的 a-。
Wiktionary etymology tree supplied in this packet (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:629462817): Ancient Greek ἀ- > English a-; Latin sexus > sexualis > English sexual > asexual.
Three branches
人：不會產生性吸引力
同樣是那塊缺口，但這次放在一個人的感覺上：少掉的是性吸引力，在乎人的能力完全沒有少。這是今天最常聽到的一支。
adjective · B2
Used about a person who does not feel sexual attraction to other people, or who has little or no wish for sex.
無性戀的
事物：沒有性的成分
缺口放在一個東西身上：一段關係、一張圖、一部片裡面沒有情慾的那一面。形容的是事物的調性，不是人的傾向。
adjective · C1
Used about a thing — a friendship, a picture, a story, a mood — that has nothing sexual in it at all.
不帶性意味的