enby en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (General-American) audio
- /ˈɛnbi/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
The noun is a pronunciation spelling of NB, an initialism of non-binary. The word was coined by the Tumblr user “revolutionator” in 2013 as “an nb equivalent to words like boys and girls”: see the quotation. The adjective is derived from the noun.
Meanings
-
(alt-of, informal, neologism, not-comparable, pronunciation-spelling) Pronunciation spelling of NB (“non-binary; having or pertaining to a gender identity that is not strictly that of a man or a woman, that is, outside of the gender binary”).
alt of NB
For non-binary-identified (or, to use my current favourite term, enby) people, this is magnified by the fact that while most of everyone except Germaine Greer and Donald Trump are prepared to recognise that trans people do exist these days, the enby population is still struggling up that hill with our glitter in the one hand and our neckties in the other.
2017, S. Bear Bergman, Meg-John Barker, “Non-binary Activism”, in Christina Richards, Walter Pierre Bouman, Meg-John Barker, editors, Genderqueer and Non-Binary Genders (Critical and Applied Approaches in Sexuality, Gender and Identity), London: Palgrave Macmillan, Springer Nature, →DOI, →ISBN, part I (Societies), page 43:You've campaigned for non-binary and gender non-conforming people at Newcastle for a while now, including winning Campaign of the Year last year for your Beyond The Binary Week when you served as Marginalised Genders Officer, and appearing on BBC3's web shows. Would you consider yourself an enby BNOC [big name on campus]?
2018 May 14, Zoë Godden, “Interview: Saffron Kershaw-Mee”, in James Sproston, editor, The Courier, number 1370, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear: Students’ Union, Newcastle University, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 Aug 2023, page 23, column 2:The Bulls also are welcoming SWISH, a BIPOC basketball meet-up group that provides a space for queer women, trans and enby (non-binary) players to feel held, seen and valued.
2023 August 16, Darnell Mayberry, “Bulls Fest returns to celebrate basketball, culture and Chicago”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 30 Jun 2025:"As an enby transgxrl, and an enbie lesbian, the lesbian community needs to show [more] validation towards those who are both non-binary and lesbians. […] I know that I am valid as a lesbian so I just don't let those views affect me, and the enby community needs to be welcoming of nb lesbians a[s] well," says Evee Sams, a lesbian, polyamorous, agender, trans gxrl.
2018 August, Peach Delosreyes-Yu, “A Stream of Consciousness on Self-Acceptance”, in Leif Tobias Gifford, editor, ENBY Magazine, number 2, [Canada]: ENBY Magazine, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 May 2024, page 7, column 2:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| enbie | alternative | lexicographic |
Synonyms
Translations (3)
fr enby (having or pertaining to a gender identity that is not strictly female or male — see also non-binary) · fr NB (having or pertaining to a gender identity that is not strictly female or male — see also non-binary) · fi muusu- (having or pertaining to a gender identity that is not strictly female or male — see also non-binary)