# Origin of dyke = lesbian **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 9, 2005, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-dyke-lesbian/283851 "2005-01-09T05:23:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ultraviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/c77e96/32.png) [@Ultraviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ultraviolet)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-dyke-lesbian/283851/1 "2005-01-09T05:23:54Z")
I’m curious if anybody knows the etymology of the word “dyke” being used to refer to lesbians. I’ve heard the origin of queer and faggot, but never dyke. Can someone enlighten me? Someone once told me it was from a Celtic (possibly Welsh) term meaning “valley dweller”, but I’m skeptical. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-dyke-lesbian/283851/2 "2005-01-09T05:32:35Z")
Isn’t dyke a colloquialism for hermaphrodite? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-dyke-lesbian/283851/3 "2005-01-09T05:33:48Z")
> [@](#): > > _1931, Amer.Eng., probably shortening of morphadike, dialectal garbling of hermaphrodite, but bulldyker “engage in lesbian activities” is attested from 1921, and a source from 1896 lists dyke as slang for “the vulva.”_ > **[dyke | Search Online Etymology Dictionary](https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=dyke)** > > The online etymology dictionary (etymonline) is the internet's go-to source for quick and reliable accounts of the origin and history of English words, phrases, and idioms. It is professional enough to satisfy academic standards, but accessible... ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-dyke-lesbian/283851/4 "2005-01-09T05:35:59Z")
From [=http://www.wordorigins.org/wordord.htm]here. > [@](#): > > Dyke > > This term for a lesbian is a clipped form of bulldyker, an American slang term that dates to at least 1906. The clipped form dyke doesn’t appear until 1931. The origin is unknown, but the fact that bulldyker is the earliest known form by several decades limits the possibilities significantly. > > Douglas Wilson, in Comments on Etymology, Vol. 31, No. 9, May 2002, outlines an interesting hypothesis. He speculates that it may be from Boadicea, the Celtic warrior queen who led the ancient Britons in battle against the Romans. Boadicea’s name is also commonly spelled Boudicca or Boudica–forms which can be easily corrupted into bulldyker. The metaphor of an Amazon-like warrior queen for a man-like woman is clear. Boudicca’s true sexual orientation is irrelevant (and impossible to determine after two millenia); what is important is the image and the metaphor. Wilson suggests the appearance of the term at the turn of the 20th century may coincide with a renewed interest in the story of Boudicca. A famous London statue of Boudicca in a chariot was dedicated in 1902 and Queen Victoria’s death in 1901 invited many comparisons with past English queens, including Boudicca. > > Wilson is not the first to make this leap. Judy Grahn suggested in her 1984 book Another Mother Tongue that Boudicca may be the inspiration for bulldyker. But Grahn suggests that that the term dates to Boudicca’s days, which is completely untenable. The term is recent, even if the source of its inspiration is old. (Note that the Boudicca hypothesis is speculation. It’s interesting, but speculation nonetheless.) > > The word is apparently unrelated to dike, meaning an earthen bank used to hold back or control the flow of water, a dam. This sense of dike dates to the 13th century and probably comes from the Old Norse dik. ---
**Author:** ![Mathochist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-dyke-lesbian/283851/5 "2005-01-09T09:56:03Z")
> [@Ultraviolet](#): > > I’m curious if anybody knows the etymology of the word “dyke” being used to refer to lesbians. I’ve heard the origin of queer and faggot, but never dyke. Can someone enlighten me? Someone once told me it was from a Celtic (possibly Welsh) term meaning “valley dweller”, but I’m skeptical. The O.E.D. says it’s obscure.