'sex-typical' is a modern English compound formed by combining the noun 'sex' and the adjective 'typical'. 'sex' in English comes ultimately from Latin 'sexus', and 'typical' comes from Greek 'typos' via Latin 'typicus' and French influence.

'sex' derives from Latin 'sexus' (meaning 'state of being male or female'), which entered Old French and Middle English before stabilizing as English 'sex'. 'typical' comes from Greek 'typos' (meaning 'impression, model'), through Latin 'typicus' and Old French/Latin adjectival forms to Middle English 'typical' and modern English 'typical'. The compound 'sex-typical' is a 20th-century English formation used in scientific and social-science contexts.

Individually, 'sex' originally meant the biological division into male and female, and 'typical' meant 'of a type or model'; combined in modern usage the compound came to mean 'characteristic of a particular biological sex' and is used to describe patterns, traits, or distributions associated with that sex.