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Two London student groups are replacing the word women with "womxn" in their communications to be more inclusive.

King’s College London’s Womxn in Physics Society is one organisation using the term in its moniker.

While Goldsmiths Students’ Union has also adopted the new spelling when referring to sports teams.

The latter, in a Facebook post promoting sports at the institution on November 20, said: “Why not give our Womxn’s Basketball session or Adidas Womxn’s Fun Run a go later on today?”

There have also been events such as “womxn’s yoga” promoted.

A spokeswoman for the Goldsmiths Student Union, speaking to the Daily Mail, said: “Womxn is used to demonstrate our commitment to inclusiveness. No student has complained about its use.”

The exact origins of womxn are unclear, however it is deemed generally as an attempt to be more inclusive than the terms women or woman.

In the seventies, feminist movements adopted the word “womyn” – to step away from having the word man in the word woman.

According to a website called the “Womyn’s Centre”, this is was because woman referred to being “of man” and groups wanted to get away from the connotation.

Then, seemingly, womxn developed as a more updated version of this, as the previous was linked with what have been deemed as predominantly “white” and “cisgender” members of the feminist movement, according to the Daily Dot.

Cisgender means someone whose personal identity and the gender they associate with is linked to the sex they were assigned at birth.

A post from the Daily Dot said: “Although they technically serve the same basic purpose, womyn and womxn come with different connotations. Womyn is associated more with the often white, cisgender sector of the feminist movement, while womxn denotes gender fluidity and inclusivity.”

However, the term has prompted derision from recent reports of its use and has been divisive when used in the past by organisations.

A museum in London, the Wellcome Collection, used the term in promotional materials in October and decided to revoke the phrase and apologise following a backlash.

It said it had used the word “with the intention of being inclusive”.

Following this, they were thanked by many for their apology and rectifying what some deemed as a “mistake”.

At the time, Labour MP Jess Phillips commented on the museum’s use and said: “I've never met a trans woman who was offended by the word woman being used, so I'm not sure why this keeps happening.

"As if internet dissent now replaces public policy. I get what they are trying to do but why is it only women not men where this applies.”

However, the word is commonly used by people on social media, with thousands adopting the alternative spelling regularly in posts.

The Standard has contacted both London university groups for further comment.