English

Noun

two-spirit ‎(plural two-spirits)

1. A Native (North) American who is non-cisgender, non-binary or gender-variant (especially one belonging to a traditional tribal third-gender, fourth-gender or transgender category), or who is non-heterosexual.
   • 2009, James Neill, The Origins and Role of Same-Sex Relations in Human Societies, page 38:

     Because of their spiritual powers, sex with a two-spirit was often considered to bring good luck.

Usage notes

• Some people include (contemporary) gay, lesbian, and bisexual tribespeople as well as (historical and contemporary) gender-variant ones, considering the categories "essentially identical"; others view LGB people as a different category from gender-variant people.^[2]

Synonyms

• berdache (now often considered offensive)

Translations

Adjective

two-spirit ‎(not comparable)

1. Pertaining to or being a two-spirit.
   • 1996, Ritch C Savin-Williams and Kenneth M Cohen, The Lives of Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals: Children to Adults, page 421:

     A Hupa two-spirit male told me: ‘I was real feminine as a child, from as early as I can remember.’

   • 1997, Sue-Ellen Jacobs, Wesley Thomas, and Sabine Lang, Two-spirit People, page 4:

     With this etymology, it should come as no surprise that many Native American gay, lesbian, transgender, and other two-spirit people consider the term ‘berdache’ derogatory.

   • 2010, Walter L Williams, The Guardian, 11 Oct 2010:

     Instead of seeing two-spirit persons as transsexuals who try to make themselves into "the opposite sex", it is more accurate to understand them as individuals who take on a gender status that is different from both men and women.

Synonyms

• two-spirited

Translations

See also

• hermaphrodite (two-spirits were formerly often called hermaphrodites)
• berdachism
• acault
• sworn virgin

References

Etymology 2

From two +‎ spirit.

Adjective

two-spirit ‎(not comparable)

1. (theology) Involving two spirits; especially, pertaining to the doctrine of dualism espoused in the so-called Treatise on the Two Spirits in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
   • 1957, The Harvard Divinity School bulletin (Harvard University Press), page 133:

     Paul's grasp of the Spirit as the sign of the erupting messianic age is at odds with the two-spirit thought of Qumran which never became incompatible with law observance.

Translations