The Cambridge Dictionary has updated its definition of the word "woman" to include anyone who "identifies as female", regardless of their gender at birth.
The online dictionary recently added an additional definition of the word, including transgender people. The same thing will happen with the word "man".
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, now in addition to definitions that include a "female human being", a woman can also be "an adult who lives and identifies as female even though she may have been a different sex at birth".
Examples are given in the dictionary:
"She was the first trans woman elected to national office" or "Mary is a woman who was assigned male at birth".
The Cambridge Dictionary is not the first dictionary to change its definitions. In July, Merriam-Webster added an additional definition of "female" that defines the term as "having a gender identity that is the opposite of male."
The definition of "a woman" has become increasingly controversial in recent years. In 2020, Harry Potter author JK Roëling was accused of being transphobic after she tweeted a reference to a headline about "menstruating people".
Source: The Telegraph
