okay, I hadn't wanted to obviousize this, but. IN THE ORIGINAL SENSE; i.e., unable to bear young, this word certainly bore on the female. then it shifted to a meaning characteristic of such a female. now it has become "desexed".

you have to wonder (don't we?) how much M-W (for one) have been influenced by the order of the day.

I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'...