zehttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/ze_pron%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_useze, pron.
First published 2018

zepronoun

  1. 1864–
    Used as a gender-neutral third person singular subject pronoun. Cf. s/he pron.2
    In later contextual use, especially with reference to individuals who do not identify themselves as either male or female, but rather as another or no gender, or as a combination of genders, as distinct from use as a term for unknown individuals of unspecified gender.
    Quot. 1864 appears to be an isolated early use.
    1. 1864
      The suggestion of your correspondent ‘Philologus’ respecting the poverty of our language in its need of an epicene pronoun, is one that must have occurred to every intelligent person... The only points to be considered are, the selection of a suitable word—and I think that either ‘ve’ or ‘ze’ would equally answer the requirement—and the method of its propagation.
      Ladies Repository September 567/2
    2. 1972
      Once we are committed to ‘ze’ for the subjective, the other forms follow fairly easily.
      S. Polgar in Newsletter Amer. Anthropol. Association September 18/1
    3. 1985
      My nomination? Zhe. (The zh is pronounced like the z in azure.) Example: If a person saw an automobile accident, what should zhe do?
      Re: Non-sexist Lang. (Hist.) in net.nlang 14 June (Usenet newsgroup, accessed 16 Jan. 2017)
    4. 1996
      I don't have a personal stake in whether the trans liberation movement results in..gender-neutral pronouns, like the ones, such as ze (she/he) and hir (her/his), being experimented with in cyberspace.
      L. Feinberg, Transgender Warriors Preface p. x
    5. 2016
      It seems entirely possible that in my daughter's lifetime, gender-specific pronouns will sound as archaic as ‘thee’ and ‘thou’, supplanted by ‘ze’ or ‘zir’ or some neologism of the future.
      Washington Post (Nexis) 10 January (Outlook section) b3

ze, pron. was first published in June 2018.

ze, pron. was last modified in December 2024.