Oxford Dictionary Changes Definitions for “Man” and “Woman”

'The Revolution will be complete when the language is perfect.' - George Orwell. Read The Principles of Newspeak from 1984!

From DSIRN

By Jeffrey Swindoll

The publishers of the Oxford English Dictionary changed definitions for various words, including "man" and "woman."

The OED previously included "a man's wife, girlfriend, or lover" in its definition for "woman." It now reads "a person's wife, girlfriend, or lover." The same was done to the definition for "man," which now reads "a person's husband, boyfriend, or lover."

"We have undertaken an extensive review of the dictionary and thesaurus entries, and usage examples, for 'woman' and for many related terms," a spokesman for the Oxford University Press said.

"We have expanded the dictionary coverage of 'woman' with more examples and idiomatic phrases which depict women in a positive and active manner.

...

We have ensured that offensive synonyms or senses are clearly labeled as such and only included where we have evidence of real world usage."

Other words have been modified in the OED after a "gender diversity review" earlier this year. "Housework" and "high-maintenance" previously used female pronouns for their example uses of the words in sentences.

Merriam-Webster dictionary labeled the term "sexual preference" as "offensive" when then-Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett used the phrase before the Senate Judiciary Committee in October.