Trending: ‘nonbinary’

Nonbinary and they were among our top lookups on May 19th, 2021, after singer Demi Lovato announced that they identify as such.

Demi Lovato Comes Out as Non-Binary: 'I'll Be Changing My Pronouns to They/Them’
— (headline) People (people.com), 19 May 2021

Nonbinary has been in use since the middle of the 19th century; the earliest meanings of the word were such as “not restricted to two things or parts” and “of, relating to, or being a system of numbers that does not use 2 as its base” (as in nonbinary math). More recently, the word has taken on a new meaning, more applicable to Lovato, which is “relating to or being a person who identifies with or expresses a gender identity that is neither entirely male nor entirely female.”

Lovato’s nonbinary use of they is one that has recently been added to our dictionary. They has been used a singular pronoun not specifying gender for over 600 years now; its use as a nonbinary pronoun, or as a means of intentionally not revealing gender, is more recent, coming into widespread use in the last few decades.