Gender neutral language in English: Difference between revisions
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* '''Ancestral land, homeland.''' Neutral alternative to motherland and fatherland. | * '''Ancestral land, homeland.''' Neutral alternative to motherland and fatherland. | ||
* '''Animal care, farm management, agriculture.''' Neutral alternative to "husbandry". | |||
* '''Babyfeeding milk.''' Neutral alternative to breast milk and mother's milk. | * '''Babyfeeding milk.''' Neutral alternative to breast milk and mother's milk. | ||
* '''Bach, bacheloree, unmarried person, single Person.''' Neutral alternatives to bachelor and bachelorette. | * '''Bach, bacheloree, unmarried person, single Person.''' Neutral alternatives to bachelor and bachelorette. | ||
Revision as of 21:52, 7 April 2025
Gender neutral language in English is much easier than gender neutral language (also called gender inclusive language) in many other languages, because its grammatical gender is less pervasive than in other languages where adjectives and verbs have masculine or feminine forms. See the main article on gender neutral language for general reasons to use neutral language, common problems in using it, and its use for nonbinary people.
History
Although English has grammatical gender, it's only a vestige of what it once had. Old English once had grammatical gender for inanimate objects, but this practice started to disappear in the 700s, and vanished in the 1200s. The population of England at that time spoke several languages, and the same inanimate objects had different genders in those different languages. They may have stopped using that part entirely just to make it simpler. English stopped using grammatical gender for inanimate objects, but it still uses grammatical gender for people and personal pronouns.[1] There is enough to make a challenge for nonbinary people who don't want gendered language to be used for them.
Gender-neutral language has become common in English today largely thanks to the pioneering work by feminists Casey Miller and Kate Swift. During the 1970s, they began the work of encouraging inclusive language, as an alternative to sexist language that excludes or dehumanizes women. Miller and Swift wrote a manual on gender-neutral language, The Handbook of Nonsexist Writing (1980). Miller and Swift also proposed a set of gender-neutral pronouns, tey, although they later favored singular they, or he or she.[2] There are several books on gender-neutral English, such as Rosalie Maggio's book The Nonsexist Word Finder: A Dictionary of Gender-Free Usage (1989).
Words and alternatives
This is a list of both standard (dictionary) and non-standard (created) terms and pronouns to include nonbinary identities. It should be noted that while some are genderless or third gender, others are multigender. Terms will be marked with the implied gender identity when possible.
Pronouns
See main article at English neutral pronouns.
Titles
For gender-neutral replacements of titles like Ms and Mr, see main article at Gender neutral titles.
Honorifics
Ma'am/Sir
Standard English doesn't have a gender neutral word that's used in the same way as Ma'am and Sir — a formal form of address used in some places to show respect, and commonly required for use by customer service professionals. People have created some words to fill this lexical gap, but they remain uncommon words. People have also suggested using other words in place of Ma'am and Sir, but they tend to fail the tests of formality and simplicity that customer service professionals (and their managers) apply to such usage. Many prefer no titles/no honorifics.
- Common words
- Friend: Neutral, informal.
- Mx.: Neutral, used similar to Mr. Mrs. or Ms. Pronounced [mɪks] or [məks].
- "No titles/honorifics"
- "Surname"/'Initial.' 'Surname'; Just the surname.
- 'Initial.' "Surname"; First name's initial followed bu the surname.
- Friend; neutral, very informal.
- Mx.; neutral, used similar to Mr. Mrs. or Ms. Pronounced [mɪks] or [məks].
- Citizen; neutral.
- Comrade; neutral, has Socialist, Communist and/or Anarchist connotations.
- Laddam; queer, a mix of Lad and Madam.
- M.; Neutral abbreviation for miss/ms./mrs./mr./mister/ma'am/mx.
- Mamsir/Mamser; a mix of ma'am and sir that is commonly used in Philippine English as a respectful term of address for adults regardless of gender identity or presentation.[3]
- Mezz; pronounced [mɛz].[4]
- Mir; queer, a mix of Sir and Madam.
- Mirdam; queer, a mix of Sir and Madam, although it still sounds similar to Madam.
- Mistdam; queer, a mix of Mister and Madam.
- Mistrum: queer; a neutral alternative to Mister and Mistress.
- Pe'n; neutral, short for "person", pronounced "pen"
- Sa'am; a mix of sir and ma'am. Sounds like a masculine leaning name.
- Sir; neutral, Sir is used neutrally in the military, although this doesn’t work as well outside of that.
- Sir’ram; queer, a mix of Sir and Ma’am.
- Shazam; neutral, coined by a highschool student wishing to address a nonbinary teacher with a formal term of respect.[5]
- Tiz; neutral, short for citizen.
- Zam; neutral, based on shazam, coined by Arin Wolfe.[6]
- Ser; neutral, based on Final Fantasy XIV's usage for both male and female knights of Ishgard.
Common nouns
| Type of common noun | Gender inclusive | Feminine | Masculine | Nonbinary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Young person | Child, kid, baby, infant, teen, teenager, tween, young person, youth | Girl, maiden | Boy, lad | Enby |
| Adult person | Adult, gentlebeing, gentleperson, grownup | Woman, gal, lady | Man, guy, gentleman | Enby, enban |
| Person of any age | Being, human, human being, individual, one, person, somebody, someone | Female | Male | Enby |
| Descriptive | Human, humane | Feminine, womanly, girly, female, gynous | Masculine, manly, boyish, male, androus | Non-binary, inter, androgynous, neutral, genderless, multigendered, genderfluid, genderflux, demigender, genderqueer |
(Note that using "male" and "female" as nouns for people, e.g. "my dentist is a male", is seen as dehumanising in English, and in particular "female" as a noun is considered sexist.) (Note 2: Some nonbinary people dislike "enby" and feel it is infantilizing.[7])
Family and relationship words
See also: family and intimacy.
Parent
Parents as in the formal words mother or father, or the informal mama or dada. Gender-neutral and gender-inclusive words for a parent of any gender, or non-standard specifically nonbinary, queer, or genderqueer words.
- Common words
- Parent: Neutral, formal[8]
- Guardian/Caregiver. Not necessarily the parent.
- Baba. "Neutral, based on mama and dada. (Note, baba means dad in some languages and grandmother in others.)"[8]
- Bibi. "Queer, based on the B in NB [nonbinary], similar to mama and papa/dada."[8]
- Cenn. "Neutral, short for cennend," which see.[8]
- Cennend. "Neutral, Old English (Anglo-Saxon) meaning parent."[8]
- Da. "Queer mixture (note: sounds like Ma, Pa). However, "Da'" is used in some areas of Britain and Ireland as a shortened form of "Dad".
- Dommy. "Queer, mixture of mommy and daddy (note: sounds like Dom/me, a BDSM term)."[8]
- Mada. Queer, mixture of mama and dad.
- Maddy. "Queer, mixture of mummy/mommy and daddy."[8] Note: Sometimes used to mean a trans woman who has children.[9]
- Moddy. "Queer, mixture of mommy and daddy."[8]
- Moppa / Mopa. A mix of mommy and papa.[10]
- Muddy. "Queer, mixture of mummy and daddy."[8]
- Nibi. "A mix of bibi and nini."
- Nini. "Queer, based on the N in NB, similar to mama and papa/dada."[8]
- Non. Follows a similar pattern (CvC) to Mom or Dad, could be short for "nonbinary".
- Nonny. Based on the N in NB, similar to Mommy or Daddy, generally used when a child is referring to their nonbinary parent.
- Numa. A nickname that was repurposed to be a parent name. Coincidentally like a combination of Nonbinary Mumma.
- Par. "Neutral, short for parent."[8]
- Pare: Short for parent. Can call to mind an au pair, which is a live in childcare worker (usually a woman but not always). The term means equal to, implying that one is equal to a mother or father. Also similar to père, or the French word for father. Other associations include pear (the fruit) or pair, as in the other half of a couple.
- Parental Unit (PU). Neutral, informal, humorous, possibly disrespectful. Used by the alien family in Coneheads, and taken up by popular culture.[8]
- Per. "Neutral, short for parent."[8] (See also: per pronouns and Pr title.)
- Ren. Derived from "parent." Gender-neutral. The equivalent to mommy or daddy is "renny." Coined or popularized by Katie Hall in 2017.[11]
- Rent. Short form of parent.
- Wawa. "Neutral, based on mama and papa/dada". Phonologically easy for small children to say, no known gender connotations.
- Zaza. "Queer, based on mama and papa/dada."[8][9]
- Zither. "Queer, based on mother and father. (Note, zither is also the name of a musical instrument.)"[8]
Child
Some of these gender-inclusive or gender-queer words and phrases refer only to relationship (as in daughter, son, or offspring), others only to age (girl, boy, or young one), and some to both (children).
- Common words
- Baby: Standard neutral word for very young offspring or very young people.
- Child: Standard gender neutral word for a young person or an offspring. Implied age isn't adult, but may be.
- Kid: Standard informal gender neutral term for young children or young offspring.
- I’m their mother. Rephrasing to communicate the relationship by naming the title of the speaker.
- Bitsy. Non-standard genderqueer term for a very young person.[8]
- Charge. Standard gender neutral word for a person in the care of another, often one's child.
- Dependent. A person who relies on another-- usually a family member who may or may not be their parent-- for financial support; this is most often used as a standard gender-neutral word for a child too young to work. Formal.
- Enby. From "NB (nonbinary)", a nonbinary equivalent of the words "boy" and "girl." However, some adults call themselves enbies.[12]
- Get. Poetic language for offspring.
- Little one. Neutral word for a very young child or young offspring.
- Minor. Standard gender-neutral word for a person under the legal age of consent.
- Nesser. Non-standard genderqueer term for "daughter/son".[8]
- Offspring. Neutral, standard word, but not usually used for people, except in legal language.
- Oldest/First-born. Neutral, a way of speaking of one's offspring by saying "my oldest" or "first-born", rather than saying "my daughter/son."[8]
- Progeny. Neutral, means offspring.
- Second-born. Neutral, a way of speaking of one's offspring by saying "my second-born," rather than saying "my daughter/son." Also works for middle-, third-, fourth-, fifth-born etc. [8]
- Scion. Neutral, means offspring.
- Spawn. Neutral, means offspring.
- Sprog. Neutral, crude word for a young person.[8][9]
- Youth. Neutral, poetic word for a young person, but usually implied to be male.
- Young. Neutral, standard word for offspring, but not usually used for people ("my young.")
- Youngest/Last-born. Neutral, a way of speaking of one's offspring by saying "my youngest" or "last-born" rather than saying "my daughter/son."[8]
- One of my twins. Neutral, a way of speaking of one's offspring, if they’re a twin or triplet.
- Young one. Neutral, poetic. Alternatively: young'un.
- Young person. Neutral, standard, formal.
- Ward. Standard gender-neutral word for a person, usually a child, under the care of an adult, who may or may not be their parent. Formal.
Aunt/Uncle
Standard English doesn't have a gender neutral word for one's parent's sibling. People have created some words to fill this lexical gap, but they are still uncommon words.
- Avaunt. It derives from the roots of both "aunt" and "uncle", the anglo-French "aunte" and the Latin "avunculus".
- Bibi. "Queer, based on the B in NB [nonbinary], similar to Titi/Zizi."[8]
- Cousin. "Neutral, as sometimes people say aunt/uncle for parents’ cousins, or much older cousins."[8]
- Nibi. Combination of Nini and Bibi, based on NB.
- Entle. "Non-standard alternative that combines the sounds of aunt and uncle in a single word."[14]
- Nini. "Queer, based on the N in NB, similar to Titi/Zizi."[8]
- Ommer. Non-standard genderqueer term for "aunt/uncle".
- Oggy. Non-standard genderqueer/nonbinary term for parents sibling.
- Titi. "Neutral, from the Spanish for Aunt (Tia) and Uncle (Tio). (however, it is often a diminuative of aunt.) Tie is also gaining popularity the neutral e becoming more prevalent in casual Spanish. "[8] "Titi" also happens to be a vulgar Filipino term for penis.[citation needed]
- Zizi. "Neutral, from the Italian for Aunt (Zia) and Uncle (Zio). (Note: zizi is also a French children’s ‘cute’ word for penis.)"[8]
- Untie/Unty. "Queer, combination of uncle and auntie/aunty."[8]
Niece/Nephew
Standard English doesn't have a gender neutral word for one's sibling's child. People have created some words to fill this lexical gap, but they are still uncommon words.
- Common words
- Nibling: Non-standard gender neutral term for "niece/nephew".[15]
- Chibling. "Neutral, the children of your sibling."[8]
- Cousin. "Neutral, as sometimes people say niece/nephew for cousins’ children, or much younger cousins."[8]
- Nespring. A mix of offspring and the Latin word nepos, from which both niece and nephew are derived.
- Nepos. The Latin word nepos, from which both niece and nephew are derived. Which is the same word nepotism is derived from.
- Neve. Middle English word from which niece and nephew are derived.
- Neave. Alternate form of neve. (See above.)
- Nevod. Old French for nephew from which neve was derived.
- Neveu. Alternate form of nevod.
- Nepots. Reconstructed Proto-Italic term from which nepos was derived.
- Niecew. "Queer, mixture of niece and nephew."[8]
- Nieph. "Queer, mixture of niece and nephew."[8]
- Niephling. Neutral, mixture of niece, nephew, and sibling. [16]
- Nephling. Neutral, mixture of nephew and sibling.
- Nibling. Neutral, mixture of niece, nephew, and sibling.
- Nephiece. "Queer, mixture of nephew and niece."[8]
- Sibkid. "Neutral, short for sibling’s kid."[8]
- Niephew. "A mixture of niece and nephew."[17]
Grandparent
Gender-neutral or genderqueer words for grandparent.
- Common words
- Grandparent: Neutral, formal.[8]
- Bibi. "Queer, based on the B in NB, similar to nana and papa."[8]
- Grandwa. "Queer, based on grandma and grandpa."[8]
- Grandy.' "Neutral, short for Grandparent, Grandma or Grandpa."[8][9]
- Nini. "Queer, based on the N in NB, similar to nana and papa."[8]
- Gran. Short for grandparent, grandmother, or grandfather. Has feminine connotations.
Sibling
Gender-neutral or genderqueer words for sibling.
- Common words
- Sibling: Standard gender neutral term for sister or brother.
- Sib: Short for sibling, equivalent of bro or sis.
- Younger/Little sibling, older/big sibling: Neutral equivalent to younger/little brother/sister and older/big brother/sister
- Emmer. Non-standard genderqueer term for sibling.
- Sibster. "Queer, combination of sibling and sister."[8]
- Sibter. "Queer, combination of sibling and brother."[8]
- my twin. Standard & gender neutral, for twins.
Partner
Gender-inclusive or genderqueer words for tentative romantic and sexual partners (as in girlfriend, boyfriend, or date) as well as permanent ones (as in wife, husband, or spouse).
Date
Gender-neutral and genderqueer words and phrases for a non-committed relationship, such as boyfriend, girlfriend, or date.
- Beau. Less gendered than boyfriend, but does have a somewhat masculine connotation. The French word for handsome. Has been used to mean suitor, admirer, fiancé, or escort to a social gathering.