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Cambridge Dictionary today updated its definition of ‘woman’ to include anyone who “identifies as female”.
A supplementary definition in the online dictionary now states the word can mean “an adult who lives and identifies as female though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth”.
Examples of usage include “Mary is a woman who was assigned male at birth” and “she was the first trans woman elected to a national office”.
The entry for ‘male’ has also been updated to include individuals who had a “different sex at birth”.
Free Speech Union founder Toby Young warned the dictionary compilers had gone down a “slippery slope”.
“It’s disappointing to see identity politics creeping into the way a dictionary defines words,” he said.
“The claim that these supplementary definitions of ‘woman’ and ‘man’ are based on ‘carefully studied usage patterns’ doesn’t seem plausible. Who, apart from a few woke activists, define ‘woman’ and ‘man’ this way?
“I suspect this new definition has been introduced as a result of lobbying by political activists, a slippery slope that no dictionary should go down.”
Chris McGovern, of the Campaign for Real Education, said the designation for ‘woman’ should have come with a warning as the definition is disputed.
He added, “Since it’s a contested definition, the dictionary should state that it’s a contested definition.
“The danger is it will give a green light to what’s going on in primary schools where parents are already worried that children are becoming confused from an early age.
“This will fuel the debate and cause further unhappiness among children who will question their own identities.”
The update would give the new description legitimacy as dictionary definitions are regarded as “holy writ”, he added.
Maya Forstater, executive director of campaign group Sex Matters, told The Daily Telegraph, “The primary dictionary definition remains adult human female and male. This is also the legal definition and the one most people understand.
“People have always used words in different ways and the dictionary reflects that.”
But Dr Jane Hamlin, president of transgender and non-binary support group, The Beaumont Society, described the addition as “good news”.
She said, “There has been so much disinformation and rubbish written about definitions of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ lately but these definitions are clear, concise and correct. Congratulations to Cambridge Dictionary team.”
The dictionary’s main entry for woman remains an “adult female human being”.
‘Man’ is defined as “an adult human being” and “the human race”, while the new supplementary definition adds that it can also mean “an adult who lives and identifies as male though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth”.
Users are given the examples “Mark is a trans man (= a man who was said to be female when they were born)” and “their doctor encouraged them to live as a man for a while before undergoing surgical transition”.
Earlier this year, Merriam-Webster included a new supplementary definition of ‘female’ which stated “having a gender identity that is the opposite of male”.
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