berdache
English
Etymology
From French bardache, from Italian bardassa, perhaps from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Arabic بَرْدَج (bardaj, “slave”). Compare bardash.
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /bəˈdaʃ/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /bəɹˈdæʃ/
Noun
berdache (plural berdaches or berdache)
- (anthropology, dated, now offensive) 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.
- 2005, Michael J Horswell, Decolonizing the Sodomite, University of Texas 2006, page 20:
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
Translations
Native American who identifies with a gender identity not exclusively corresponding to their biological sex — see also two-spirit
See also
Anagrams
French
Noun
berdache m (plural berdaches)
- Alternative form of bardache
Portuguese
Noun
berdache m or f (plural s)
- two-spirit (native American who is transgender or belongs to a third gender)
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from French
- English terms derived from French
- English terms derived from Italian
- English terms derived from Arabic
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English indeclinable nouns
- English nouns with irregular plurals
- en:Anthropology
- English dated terms
- English offensive terms
- en:Gender
- en:People
- en:Transgender
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese nouns
- Portuguese countable nouns
- Portuguese masculine nouns
- Portuguese feminine nouns
- Portuguese nouns with multiple genders