--- title: This Is What 'Mx.' Means description: The gender neutral honorific is in a new batch of words being added to Dictionary.com canonical: https://time.com/4106718/what-mx-means/ author: Katy Steinmetz article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-10T19:53:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:12.189Z og:title: This Gender-Neutral Word Could Replace 'Mr.' and 'Ms.' og:description: The gender neutral honorific is being added to Dictionary.com og:url: https://time.com/4106718/what-mx-means/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58f9a10815b88d02/69887061f887dc6394e933e6/gender1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3874 og:image:height: 2179 og:image:alt: 466265433 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Gender-Neutral Word Could Replace 'Mr.' and 'Ms.' twitter:description: The gender neutral honorific is being added to Dictionary.com twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58f9a10815b88d02/69887061f887dc6394e933e6/gender1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Gender-Neutral Word Could Replace 'Mr.' and 'Ms.' > Sponsored content. 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Raffi Freedman-Gurspan was appointed director of outreach and recruitment for White House personnel_ by [Katy Steinmetz](https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/) ## Katy Steinmetz Nov 10, 2015 7:53 PM UTC  Man and a lady toilet sign Man and a lady toilet sign Getty Images by [Katy Steinmetz](https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/) ## Katy Steinmetz Nov 10, 2015 7:53 PM UTC On Tuesday, Dictionary.com added a new batch of words ranging from the eyebrow-licious _on fleek_ to the Apple-propelled _digital wallet_. Like every group of additions to the dictionary, the entries reflect what English speakers are interested in right now, what they’re talking about, who they are. And one of these flags being planted in 2015—the honorific _Mx_.—is a reflection of the culture’s current interest in rethinking gender. If you don’t feel like labeling yourself a Mr. or a Ms. and would rather leave your gender unknown or undeclared, Mx. (pronounced like _mix_) is a gender-neutral option. According to Dictionary.com lexicographer Jane Solomon, this honorific has one of those rare, very-clear etymologies: Dating back to at least the late 1970s, the _M_ was taken from the first letters of those gendered honorifics, and the _x_ was attached to suggest an unknown quantity or thing, like it might in algebra class. This year saw outlets like the honorific-happy New York _Times_ publishing stories that respected sources’ preference for this binary-defying prefix. In a [June article](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/05/nyregion/barnard-college-to-accept-transgender-women.html) about Barnard College deciding to accept transgender women, the writer introduces a student named Caleb LoSchiavo: --- > “” --- One might use the honorific because they identify as bigender (having two genders), agender (having no gender), gender fluid (experiencing gender in different ways at different times) or perhaps just because they don’t feel like their gender is a defining part of who they are, which needs to be staked out for all to see right in front of their name. _Mx_. could also be used when referring to a transgender person whose preferred pronouns (he or she, him or her) aren’t clear. “The need for a gender-neutral prefix seems to be very, very top of mind for people,” Solomon says. “We’re starting to see a real cultural shift in which people are talking more openly about gender. You have ongoing conversation about gender in the public eye.” Of course part of that is the historic visibility and popularity of transgender people and plot lines, from Caitlyn Jenner to _Transparent_. But 2015 has also been a year when people have advocated for making fewer assumptions about any person based on gender. When Target decided to stop labeling their toys and bedding as “girls” or “boys,” that was about not boxing anybody in—[cisgender](http://time.com/3636430/cisgender-definition/) or otherwise. Using singular _they_ or _themself_ to refer to a generic person or a person of unknown gender (as previously in this story) is also gaining more steam—despite any objections of fusty and bespectacled English professors—says sociolinguist Ben Zimmer, executive editor of Vocabulary.com. The lack of a gender-neutral pronoun in English “has caused a lot of headache over the years,” Zimmer says. People have tried to launch new ones, like _xe_ and _thon_ and _zhe_, but those failed to gain much ground. “There seem to be new trends in this direction, accepting _they_ as a singular pronoun, with a recognition that there are not other good alternatives,” he adds. (He also wrote a Wall Street _Journal_ column on the history of this phenomenon [earlier this year](http://www.wsj.com/articles/can-they-be-accepted-as-a-singular-pronoun-1428686651)). So what is driving individuals and the media to be more open-minded about venturing into gender-neutral space? “Part of it is the question of whether you just default to masculine pronouns. Are you simply perpetuating a gender hierarchy? And what are the alternatives that reflect a more egalitarian society, a society in which genders are considered equal?” says Zimmer. “And more recently, it’s questions of identity, a sense that people seem to want the freedom to choose their own pronouns as a badge of identity.” 2015, it seems, is a year for mixing it up. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] We have worked with local state and federal law enforcement agencies to ensure that transgender are not mistreated and also not abused. [ MUSIC ] First, the Federal Government already prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. 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