#sincerely a therian who is connected to his humanity

[souperstition]

i think therianblr needs to stop focusing on defining what being a therian, nonhuman, alterhuman etc is for the entirety of the community.

like can we not accept some therians consider themselves human, and some therians absolutely do not. defining an entire group of people's experiences isnt possible ashskdk

some people are comfortable w animal packers, some arent ... like i dunno why yall are fighting.

yall need to take a step back and drink some water

what matters at the end of the day is how you view your therianthropy, nonhumanity etc.

you wont get anywhere defining how not human or how human someone else is

[theriannation]

Therian Dictionary

We’ve covered some of these terms before, but this list is updated with several additions, more information, more history, and more references! See the separate post for references. https://theriannation.tumblr.com/post/174500949057/references-for-therian-dictionary

Terms are below, presented in alphabetical order.

Alt.horror.werewolves (AHWW): a Usenet group created on November 16, 1992. It was created for the discussion of horror movies and books containing werewolves. A year later, in 1993, members began to discuss how they spiritually identified as animals and felt more instinctual. AHWW was the origin of the online Therian community.

Alter-human: Alternative Humanity Personal Identity (AHPI) is "A category of personal identity which encompasses identification that is alternative to the common societal idea of humanity." You may decide to call yourself alter-human if you experience an internal identity that is beyond the scope of what is traditionally considered 'being human'. If you feel nonhuman but your experiences do not fit into Therianthropy or Otherkinity, you may want to learn more about Alter-humans.

Animal-hearted: when a person identifies as human but has a strong "connection with" or feels a "relation with" an animal. The term was coined on The Daemon Forum. It's definition was clarified by a member named Teddy on October 26, 2009.

This is not the same as being a Therianthrope, who identifies as an animal. "I identify WITH wolves." does not equal "I identify AS a wolf."

Some people may use the term Kith. The equivalent term in the Otherkin community is Other-hearted. To use the term correctly, a person who feels close to deer would say, "I am deer-hearted." or "I am deer kith."

Awakening: the process of realizing and accepting that you are a Therianthrope. Typically Therians report experiencing this phenomenon in early adolescence (generally between the ages of 10 to 15) though some have reported time frames for their awakening earlier and later in life. The term awakening was being used in the first days of the community, as early as 1994.

Cladotherianthrope/Cladotherian: a Therian who does not identify as a distinct species, but instead feels a broader identity encompassing an entire genus or family, such as Canis or Canidea, or a larger grouping. Cladotherianthropy was coined in 2003 on the now defunct Awereness Forums.

The term comes from the Greek words klados meaning "branch" and therion meaning "animal." The klados prefix was originally chosen because in scientific terms, a clade is a group of organisms believed to have evolved from a common ancestor, and all its lineal descendants, according to the principles of cladistics.

Contherianthrope (Contherian): a Therian who does not experience mental shifts, but is always in a state of both theriotype and human at the same time (passive). This is considered a level of integration.

The term was coined by Joshua Lion Templin on January 19, 1997. His work "A Short View of Modern Contherianthropy" was posted to AHWW in four parts.

"I bring forth then contherianthropy, adding 'con', from Latin 'contas', meaning unchanging. The unchanging is that of the single mixed agent and its continuous perception."

Copinglink (C'Linker): is a person who consciously creates a coping mechanism which centers around knowingly, willingly, and actively identifying as (or in some cases, with) the user's choice of a non-human entity. This term was coined by Who-Is-Page around September 2015 on Tumblr.

The term is meant to replace "copingkin" because that term implied a form of Otherkin which it is not, because being Otherkin is not consciously chosen.

A Copinglink is able to change and pick who/what they identify as/with as need dictates. This identity can be created by anyone, and thus, is not dictated by one's mental health.

This is not to be confused with instinctual and unconscious defense mechanisms/behaviors which can lead to Therianthropy or Otherkinity.

A person who is a Copinglink could also be a Therian or Otherkin at the same time as long as the theriotype or kintype was an unconscious identity that was not chosen. A person could also be Other-hearted while being a Copinglink.

Greymuzzle: an older member of the community who may be seen as wiser and more experienced. First used on AHWW, they were the 'backbones' of the community who had been in the group the longest.

A remark by Windrunner in the "Our History" section of the AHWW FAQ from 1996/1997 seems to suggest that Smash Graywolf coined or perpetuated this term.

To be considered a Greymuzzle, one has been actively involved in the community for approximately 10 years, around 30 years of age, or has garnered widespread respect in the greater community. Age is not always a factor, as some Therians do awaken in their adult years.

Unfortunately the term has been abused, so don't blindly trust others who label themselves a Greymuzzle. If you are unsure, it's okay to ask for proof of their time and involvement within the Therian community. If someone refuses to answer, then use caution.

Howl: a real life gathering or meeting of Weres/Therians, usually to go camping. The term was originally used on Alt.horror.werewolves. The first "Howl", the 1994 Harvest Howl, was organized by Smash Greywolf in Ohio, USA. To learn more and read about other notable Howls that followed, see references.

Otherkin: real, non-fictional people who identify as other than human. Otherkin identify as creatures from myth and legend, usually elves, faeries, and dragons. This is a sincere identity, not role-play. Being otherkin is a very individualistic thing: each otherkin reaches his own explanation for how and why he is an otherkin. There are both spiritual and psychological hypotheses for the causes or origins of feeling non-human.

The term was coined in 1990 by Torin in the Elfinkind Digest listserve. It is a variant of the word "otherkind," which referred to any creature that was not Elven. In the early 2000's it became an umbrella term that could include Vampires, Therianthropes and other people with animal self-images.

Paleotherianthrope (Paleotherian): a person who as an internal self-identification as an extinct species. The term appears on Alt.Horror.Werewolves in a thread from 1997. The term can appear as "paleokin" in the Otherkin community. Paleotherians are considered uncommon. Often they have feelings of being out of time and place.

Phytanthrope: a person who has an internal self-identification as a plant; experiencing phytanthropy. Comes from "phyto-" meaning plant and "-anthrope" meaning human. The term was created in 2013 by Darahagh (da-re-har-uh), a southern live oak. Plantkin is also an acceptable term that actually came into use earlier that phytanthrope around 2004 in a Livejournal community.

"It was a term I cobbled to together in in February 2013 for myself as a plant-identified person to use due to being tired of people saying otherkin are mythical creatures only even while plantkin being part of the otherkin community."  -Darahagh

The term wereplant was being used on AHWW in the early 1990's, and a few people were reported to have identified as plants back then. In 2004 on the website Green Is More Than A Color the term "greenkin" was also used. In 2006 the term "woodkin" was coined on another Livejournal community, unfortunately this profile has been purged.

Polytherianthrope (Polytherian): identity with more than one species of nonhuman animal. Poly is a prefix meaning "many".

This is the current terminology. Polytherian replaced the old term Polywere which had first been use in 1996. It is not known exactly when the term polytherian became standard use within the community. It most likely came into use in 2005/2006 when the term Therianthrope was replacing Were.

Shift (Therianthropic): a temporary change in mentality, mood, sensory perception, or spirit that causes a Therianthrope to feel more instinctual or animalistic like the therioside in a non-physical manner.

Shifting has been discussed since the beginning of the online Therian community. "Your best mental transformation", is a discussion from AHWW which took place on December 1, 1993.

There will be a separate post about all of the types of shifts in the near future. Please also refer to that when available.

Shifter's Disease: "occurs when a person starts reading some therianthropic meaning into mundane, everyday occurrences." Individuals who are researching Therianthropy may begin to trick themselves into thinking that normal feelings and sensations that can be explained rationally, are actually therianthropic shifts or evidence of Therianthropy. This in turn, leads them to falsely identify as a Therian for a short  period of time. This term was coined by the members of Shifters.org circa 2001.

This is similar to Medical Student's Disease (MSD) in which medical students perceive themselves to be experiencing the symptoms of a disease that they are studying.

Suntherianthrope (Suntherian): "a therian whose therioside (primary or sole therioside) is integrated into his baseline personality. However, that integration does not prevent him/her from having minor fluctuations of mood that feel slightly more animal, or slightly less animal. He/she can feel them both at the same time, human and animal. He/she can not mental shift into his/her base theriotype (whether primary or sole)."

The term was created by WordWolf on April 18th, 2005. It was not a community coined term. Instead WordWolf created the term to describe his own personal experiences. The terms Syntherianthropy and Syntherian are interchangeable. This is different from the accepted meaning of Contherian.

Therianthrope: a person experiencing Modern Therianthropy; a person who has an internal self-identification as a non-human species. Therianthropes understand that they are still physically human.

Therianthrope was being used in Alt.Horror.Werewolves as early as 1995/96. Therian is shortened slang or jargon that became commonly used around 2005. Before that, members of the community called themselves Weres.

The words therianthropy and therianthrope originate from the portmanteu of the Greek words Therios and Anthropos (animal and human respectively) which combined loosely translates to "human animal" or "animal man".

Therianthropy (Modern): is an identity and ontological phenomenon categorized by a deep integral or personal belief that an individual is to some degree, a non-human animal. This is not to be confused with historical therianthropy. Therianthropes are still human, understand that they have human bodies, and understand that physical shape-shifting is not possible.

The word Therianthropy originates from a portmanteu of the Greek words Therios and Anthropos (animal and human respectively) which, combined, loosely translate to "human animal" or "animal man".

"Therianthropy is an innate part of the person's life. Therianthropy is the recognition and acceptance of the animal within."

Therianthropy is a subjective belief based on personal experiences and not on scientific fact, with most Therians being "self-labelled" or "self-identified". Therefore, both spiritual and psychological hypotheses for its cause or origin are legitimate and acceptable in the community.  

Theriomythic: can be used by individuals who straddle the Otherkin and Therian communities, in that they identify (non-physically) as one or more mythical type creatures (IE. Dragon, griffon, etc.). This term is used by people who feel that their theriotype/kintype is more wild and instinctual or a being that does not have what is considered an advanced culture (i.e. a dragon or unicorn that does not speak a language and that does not use magic). These individuals may feel more at home in the Therian community or find it easier to discuss their more feral shifts and experiences with Therianthropes.

The term seems to have been originally coined on the Therian Wilderness Forum in 2010 as theriomythos. It was then translated into Spanish as los theriomitos by Otherkin Hispano. It was re-translated from the Spanish into English as theriomythics by Akhila, on May 24, 2013.

Weremythic was used in an AHWW discussion on July 25, 1996.

"So, apparently the term, "theriomythic" isn't exactly a new concept in the therian community though one that didn't gain a lot of attention. More the new term, theriomythic, is people coming to a similar conclusion and use of phrase as others had once perhaps." - LionGoatSnake (aka House of Chimeras)

Theriotype/Therioside: now the most common words for the animal species which is an individual's nonhuman identity. The term came into use in 1999. Theriotypes are based on known animal species extant and extinct.  Some Therianthropes believe that a theriotype develops as part of their mentality much in the same way that their personality develops.

An example of usage is "I have a whale therioside." It is also acceptable to say "I am a whale Therian." The term was developed as a replacement for the old words Wereside and Phenotype.

Vacillant Therianthrope (VacillantTherian): refers to a Therian whose animal side and human side are integrated such that one or the other may still come to the front of the mind noticeably stronger than the other, as needed or as desired. This describes a level of integration when shifts occur more gradually and smoothly, as if on a sliding scale, and shifts tend to follow a more consistent pattern. Although unexpected stimuli may trigger sharper or more sudden shifts.

This is a term coined by the community in 2004 or 2005. It is based on the word vacillate which means to alternate or waver.

Werecard: a personal profile from Alt.Horror.WereWolves. First used in 1994. Also considered a short questionnaire that allows individuals to share information about themselves with the larger community. Anyone could use the template and answer what they felt comfortable sharing with the community. When the Were card was developed, Therians were mostly of adult age. Today, it is not advisable for younger Therians to provide personal information such as their given name or location. A sample of the questions can been seen on the Therian Wiki.