berdache

English

Etymology

From French bardache, from Italian bardascia, perhaps from Arabic بَرْدَج (bardaj, “slave”). Compare bardash.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /bəˈdaʃ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /bəɹˈdæʃ/

Noun

berdache (plural berdaches or berdache)

1. (anthropology) Among Native Americans, a person who identifies with any of a variety of gender identities which are not exclusively those of their biological sex; a transgender person. [from 19th c.]
   • 2005, Michael J Horswell, Decolonizing the Sodomite, University of Texas 2006, page 20:

     Male berdache have been documented in nearly 150 North American societies, while female berdache (females who take on the lifeways of males) appear in half as many groups.

Usage notes

Considered offensive by many Native American communities because of its pejorative and non-American etymology, berdache began to fall out of use in the 1990s; two-spirit and various tribe-specific terms (wergern, etc) are now used instead.

Derived terms

• berdachism

Translations

person who identifies with a gender identity not exclusively corresponding to their biological sex — see two-spirit

See also

• transgender
• two-spirit
• hermaphrodite

Anagrams

• breached

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French

Noun

berdache m (plural berdaches)

1. Alternative form of bardache

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Portuguese

Noun

berdache m f (plural berdaches)

1. two-spirit (native American who is transgender or belongs to a third gender)