Posts misrepresent updated Cambridge Dictionary definitions for 'man,' 'woman'

"It's mad how people think they can just change dictionary definitions to suit an unpopular ideology. Women have not been asked if they're okay with being erased like this," says a December 13, 2022 tweet liked thousands of times.

"Anyway. Cambridge Dictionary now says the word 'WOMAN' means 'men' & that the word 'Female' is offensive."

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Screenshot of a tweet taken December 20, 2022

Similar claims circulated on Facebook and Instagram, but they are inaccurate.

While Cambridge Dictionary did recently update its definitions of "man" and "woman," it did not do away with the words' primary meanings.

"The first definition at the entry for woman remains unchanged and continues to be 'an adult female human being,'" a spokesperson told AFP, adding that the claim shared on Twitter is "highly misleading."

Similarly, the first definition for "man" remains "an adult male human being."

In October, Cambridge Dictionary decided to add definitions to both words to include transgender people, the spokesperson said.

The second definition of "woman" now says: "an adult who lives and identifies as female though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth."

The second definition of "man" says: "an adult who lives and identifies as male though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth."

Cambridge Dictionary does say using "female" as a noun to refer to a girl or woman in "technical or scientific writing" can be "offensive." But the reference does not claim the word itself is offensive.

Archived web pages showing all three definitions prior to the changes can be viewed here, here and here.

Transgender rights have been a hot-button issue in the United States in 2022, with Republican politicians nationwide putting forward a slew of legislative proposals to restrict them.

AFP has debunked other false claims about transgender people here, here and here.