Fa’afafine
/faʔaˈfafine/noun
A Samoan term for a person assigned male at birth who lives in a traditionally feminine gender role, often understood as a distinct gender identity.
Did you know?Fa’afafine is not simply a modern translation of “transgender”; it belongs to a longstanding Samoan cultural framework with its own social roles and meanings.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Polynesian
Proto-Polynesian
*fafine
“Woman or female; an ancestral Polynesian form related to later words for woman.”
Proto-Polynesian
Proto-Polynesian
*faka-
“A prefix meaning “in the manner or likeness of,” later becoming Samoan fa’a-.”
Early Samoan
Samoan
fa’a-
“A productive prefix expressing manner, likeness, or behaving as.”
Modern Samoan
Samoan
fa’afafine
“Literally “in the manner of a woman”; a culturally specific gender term.”
20th Century
English
fa’afafine
“An English loanword used in anthropology, journalism, and discussions of Samoan gender culture.”