otherkin

[ uhth-er-kin ]

adjective

1. of or relating to the belief or feeling that one's soul or essence is partly or fully something other than human, such as believing one’s core identity to be a mythological creature, fictional character, or animal.

noun

, plural oth·er·kin.

1. a member of a community of people who believe or feel that their soul or essence is partly or fully something other than human, such as a mythological creature, fictional character, or animal.

Word History and Origins

Origin of otherkin¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, in the sense “different kind of, other kinds of”; current sense dates from 1990–95; variant of original otherkind (coined in the magazine Elfkind Digest and modeled on elfinkind “race of elves”); other ( def ) + kin ( def )

Example Sentences

Otherkin do not wholly identify as human.

From Los Angeles Times

The film derives inspiration from the Otherkin subculture.

From Los Angeles Times

While the film centers Otherkin, the architecture of the facility serves as a larger metaphor for gender: The stagey play area the patients frolic through emphasizes the performative while the color palette of blue, pink and white takes inspiration from the transgender flag.

From Los Angeles Times

Beary: The Otherkin group that was there.

From Slate

I don’t know if you remember Otherkin?

From Slate