Word.ws English Dictionary

two-spirit

Syllables: two-spir·it/tuːˈspɪɹɪt/US/tuˈspɪɹɪt/

two-spirit adjective: 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.

Adjective (1)

two-spirit (not comparable)

  1. 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.
    • Paul's grasp of the [Holy] 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.1957, The Harvard Divinity School Bulletin, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press [for the Harvard Divinity School], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 133

Noun

two-spirit (plural two-spirits)

  1. (Canada, US) A Native North American bisexual, homosexual, or gender-variant person; especially one belonging to a traditional tribal third-gender, fourth-gender, or transgender cultural category that has a ceremonial role.
    • The Lakota, by the way, called their Two-Spirits winkte and wapetokeca which means "people with special powers."2006, Walter L[ee] Williams, Toby Johnson, “About the Historical Accuracy of this Novel”, in Two Spirits: A Story of Life with the Navajo, Maple Shade, N.J.: Lethe Press, →ISBN, page 322
    • "The elders will tell you the difference between a gay Indian and a Two-Spirit," he [Joey Criddle] said, underscoring the idea that simply being gay and Indian does not make someone a Two-Spirit.2006 October 8, John Leland, “A spirit of belonging, inside and out”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 Dec 2024
    Synonyms:
    2, 2S, berdache, hermaphrodite

Adjective (2)

two-spirit (not comparable)

  1. (Canada, US) Of, pertaining to, or being a two-spirit (noun sense).
    • A Hupa two-spirit male told me: / I was real feminine as a child, from as early as I can remember. […] Within the family, Indians believe you can be whatever you choose.1996, Walter L[ee] Williams, “Two-spirit Persons: Gender Nonconformity among Native American and Native Hawaiian Youths”, in Ritch C. Savin-Williams, Kenneth M. Cohen, editors, The Lives of Lesbians...
    • [I]t should come as no surprise that many Native American gay, lesbian, transgender, and other two-spirit people consider the term "berdache" derogatory.1997, Sue-Ellen Jacobs, Wesley Thomas, Sabine Lang, “Introduction”, in Sue-Ellen Jacobs, Wesley Thomas, Sabine Lang, editors, Two-spirit People: Native American Gender Identity, Sexuality, and...
    Synonyms:
    two-spirited

Synonyms of two-spirit

Forms of two-spirit

pluraltwo-spirits
alternative formtwo spirit

Origin of two-spirit

PIE word *dwóh₁ From two + spirit.

The noun is derived from two + spirit, coined in 1990 at the Third Annual Inter-tribal Native American, First Nations, Gay and Lesbian American Conference held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, based on Ojibwe niizh manidoowag (“two spirits”) (coined at the same conference), from niizh (“two”) + manidoo (“spirit”) + -wag (suffix denoting the third-person plural of an animate noun); the term was created to replace berdache in anthropological literature which was considered offensive. The adjective is derived from the noun.

Words formed from two-spirit

Questions about two-spirit

What does two-spirit mean?
Two-spirit means 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.
What part of speech is two-spirit?
Two-spirit can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce two-spirit?
Two-spirit is pronounced /tuːˈspɪɹɪt/ (UK).

Words near two-spirit in the dictionary

  1. two-sidedness
  2. two-speed
  3. two-speed crossword
  4. two-speed crosswords
  5. two-speed Europe
  6. two-spirit
  7. two-spirited
  8. two-spirits
  9. two-spotted scoliid wasp
  10. two-spotted spider mite
  11. two-spotted spider mites

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: two-spirit (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-two-spirit.wav.

Cite this entry: “two-spirit.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/two-spirit. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.