The term will be used to represent transgender people and those who do not wish to specify their gender (Picture: Metronews)

The gender neutral honorific ‘Mx’ may join Mr, Mrs, Ms and Miss in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Jonathan Dent, assistant editor of the OED, told the Sunday Times that the term – which will be used to represent transgender people and those who do not wish to identify their gender – will be the first new honorific to be accepted to the current set of gender identifiers.

And Mr Dent said the potential addition of the word was an example of how people used language to cater for their needs.

MORE: Sweden has added a gender-neutral pronoun to the dictionary


Each year, the OED decides which words to add based on the popularity of their usage (Picture: Getty Images)

‘People [use] language in ways that suit them rather than letting language dictate identity to them,’ he told the Sunday Times.



The Oxford English Dictionary decides which new words to add each year depending on the popularity of their usage.

Mx was first used on Brighton and Hove council forms two years ago following a vote. Banks including the Royal Bank of Scotland adopted the honorific a year ago while Royal Mail has also said that it has received requests to allow the term to be used on forms.

In March, Sweden became one of the first countries to add a gender neutral pronoun to the dictionary, after the word hen – a combination of ‘han’ (he) and ‘hon’ (she) – graduated to common usage.

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