Glossary

A

• Aldernic : An umbrella term for people who have, or wish to have, a body that deviates from what is expected in society, or typical human notions in general.↑
• Alter : Often a synonym for 'headmate,' based on personal preference. A term for a singular person, being, or entity in a system or collective. Some choose to use this as a 'medical term.'
• Alterbeing : A less human-centric version of the term "alterhuman", focusing on identities that fall outside what is traditionally considered "being". This term includes otherkin, fictionkin, therianthropes, copinglinks, otherlinks, systems, starseeds, other/fiction/animal-hearted, and soulbonders.↑
• Alterhuman : A category of personal identity which encompasses identification that is alternative to the common societal idea of humanity. This term includes otherkin, fictionkin, therianthropes, copinglinks, otherlinks, systems, other/fiction/animal-hearted, and soulbonders.↑ ↑
• Archetrope : An identity under the alterhuman umbrella in which one heavily identifies with or otherwise experiences an archetype, trope, or otherwise pre-established character model in a way that is central to their identity. It may not necessarily be inherently nonhuman, but has enough of an impact on one's identity to be experienced in similar ways to other alterhuman labels. ↑
• Aspecies : A term for those who do not identify with any species for any reason, or not labelling yourself to any specific species. ↑

C

• Changeling : An identity often rooted in folklore or mythology, the offspring of fairies or elves left in place of a human child stolen by said fairies or elves.↑
• Clado- : [Ex: clado-kin/clado-therian/clado-mythic/etc..] A prefix denoting that an individual does not identify as a distinct species, but instead a broader identity encompassing an entire genus/larger grouping.
• Clinical Zoanthrope / Zoanthropy : A psychiatric/medicalized term, for those who have a delusion/psychosis-based belief of turning into a nonhuman animal. It is used both as a specific medical diagnosis, & as a general community term for anybody who experiences such delusions. Specific to wolves, a wider known version of the term is 'clinical lycanthrope.'
• Concept-kin : A subcategory of otherkin wherein an individual identifies as a concept, such as the night, love, or math.
• Con-therianthropy : A sub-category of therianthropy in which a being does not experience mental shifts - but are always passively in a state of both theriotype & human at the same time.↑
• Coping-link : A voluntary/chosen identity with or as an entity (fictional or not,) in order to cope with stress, trauma, hardship, illness, or anything else.↑

D

• Delusional Attachment / 'DA' : A term for those who have a delusion/psychosis-based belief of being or turning into a fictional entity. It is not a specific diagnosis nor official medical term in this context.
• Demi-human : A being who is partially human, & partially nonhuman.
• Draconic : Characteristics of, relating to, or resembling dragons. Draconity being the state, condition, or quality of being a dragon. In the context of alterhumanity, may also refer to one who identifies as or with dragons in some way.
• Dæmon : A personified other half of one’s internal dialogue(s), which usually has a name, gender, & personality that often differs from that of said being. Dæmons are commonly imagined or projected in animal forms.

E

• Endel : Those whose identity is caused by, rooted in, or greatly influenced by (a) delusion/psychosis. It is not a specific diagnosis nor official medical term.
• Extranthrope : A nonhuman member of a system/collective.

F

• Factive : Headmates/alters that are based on, and/or identify as a subject from a typically identifiable, existing factual source in real-life - such as an individual animal, celebrity/person, object, etc.
• Factkin : Someone who identifies as a typically identifiablte, existing being/thing from real life.
• Fictionfolk : An all-inclusive term for beings with any type of fictional identity.
• Fictionkin/Mediakin/Otakin/Otakukin : A subcategory of otherkin for when a being identifies partially or wholly, in some way, as a subject from a fictional source - such as a character/species/item/etc. from a book, television show, movie, video game, etc. Also known as mediakin. Originally, those who identified as a fictional character were called otakukin, or otakin, but these terms have largely fallen out of use.
• Fiction-hearted : A
• Fictive : Headmates/alters that are based on, and/or identify as a fictional source - such as a character/species/item/etc. from a book, television show, movie, video game, etc.
• Furry : Somebody who is part of the furry fandom/sub-culture or it's hobbies and/or is a fan of anthropomorphic (having human features,) animal characters.

G

• Godshard : A being who considers their soul to be intertwined with or made from a 'shard,' part, piece, element, or other similar aspect; of a deity, spirit, divine entity, or other mythic entity. They may believe that they were made for a specific purpose in life.
• Greymuzzle/Graymuzzle : An alterhuman or furry who is an older adult to senior, and/or has actively participated in the community for many years.

H

• -Hearted : [Ex: animal-hearted/other-hearted/fiction-hearted/etc.] A suffix for identities where somebody has a strong connection to an entity/subject, as opposed to identifying as it. Can be used with species to portray specific identity, EX; spider-hearted, eel-hearted, chihuahua-hearted,etc. A synonym for kith and synpath.↑
• Headmate : Often a synonym for 'alter,' based on personal preference. A singular person, being, or entity in a plural system or collective.
• Hearthic / Hearthome : A location/type of location - real or otherwise - that a being has a strong emotional connection to, considering it 'home,' regardless of having been there or not. ↑
• Holothere : A term for those who identify fundamentally & physically as nonhuman, regardless of how or why they identify as such. Intentionally vague for broad usage & does not inherently refer to any ability to transform.
↑

I

• Introject :An alter/headmate in a system/collective that are based on some kind of source outside the brain - fiction, friends, celebrities, etc.

L

• -Link : [Ex: coping-link/fun-link/etc.] A suffix for any chosen/voluntary alterhuman identities.↑

M

• Median :Being neither fully multiple, nor fully singlet, but an experience of plurality between the two.
• Medusan :An orientation label denoting alterhumans/nonhumans who are attracted to other alterhuman/nonhumans.
• Multiple :An umbrella term for systems or collectives which contain multiple distinct individuals.

N

• Nonhuman :To not identify as human.
• Nullkind :Those who reject species identification entirely. A rejection of categorizing yourself as (ortho)human, nonhuman, or alterhuman.
• Nephesh Mavar : in reference to alterhumans whose identity is, at least in part, influenced by Jewish spirituality, theology or philosophy, with "nephesh” meaning “soul” and “mavar” meaning “beyond” in Hebrew [1].

O

• Objectkin :A subcategory of otherkin for when a being identifies partially or wholly as an object in some way.
• Otherhuman :For humans who are convinced they should have been born in another universe, including fictional. Is also used to describe 'other versions of humans'; usually in relation to primitive humans and/or Neanderthals.
• Otherkin(d) :A personal identity which describes identification which typically encompasses being wholly or partially, in some way, a non-human entity.
• Otherlink :A voluntary alterhuman identity.
• Othershard : A piece of a nonhuman entity in a living human vessel that does the entity's bidding. Similar to a Godshard, but doesn't inherently imply a deity.
• Orthohuman : Someone who is not alterhuman in any way, a "typical human" with "common human experiences."

P

• Physical Alterhuman Identity (PAI) :A broad term for any alterhuman identity that includes physical identification. Common PAI experiences may involve seeking body modifications to closer align with their identity, transformations, or may view their physical bodies as inherently alterhuman in some way. ↑
• Paleotherian : A sub-category of therianthropy. A therian who identifies as an extinct species that at one time existed on Earth.
• Phytanthrope/Plantkin: An individual who identifies as a species of plant.
• Plural : An umbrella term for being 'more than one'.
• Pokékin :A subcategory of fictionkin for when one identifies as one of the creatures from the media franchise Pokémon.
• Polykin : An otherkin individual who has more than one kintype.
• Post-furry: A subsection of the furry fandom with an interest in pushing the boundaries of what it means to be furry. Many postfurries display a similar culture and/or belief system when compared to the alterhuman community.
• Psychic Vampire : A vampire who exclusively or usually feeds on others' life energy rather than blood [20] [21]. Sometimes referred to as "energy vampires" [20]. May be abbreviated as "psi-vamp". See also: sanguinarian vampire.

Q

• Quoiluntary :To be unsure if, or to not care if, one's identity is involuntary or voluntary.

S

• Sanguinarian Vampire : A vampire who craves physical blood, & generally doesn't or can't gain energy from feeding psychically.
• Singlet : Someone who is not plural.
• Songkin : Beings who identify partially or wholly - in some intrinsic way - as a song. Some may also consider this to fall under conceptkin.
• Soulbond : Often used to describe a member of a system or a presence in one's mind that is based on a character or real individual.
• Suntherian :A therianthrope whose primary or sole theriotype is integrated into their baseline personality.
• Synpath : Somebody who identifies with - but not as - something on an intrinsic level. A synonym of kith & otherhearted.
• System : A collection of alters/headmates within one shared body.

T

• Therianthrope/Therian : Beings who identify partially or wholly - in some intrinsic way - as a non-human & often (but not always,) earthen animal.
• Theriomythic : Beings who identify partially or wholly - in some intrinsic way - as a mythical creature.
• Thoughtform : Any mental entity that is created with intention.↑
• Transhumanist : Somebody who follows transhumanism; an ideology which centers new technology for health & well-being more accessible for all, to 'enhance' or aid humanity/society as a whole.↑
• Transspecies :To identify as a different species than what somebody is perceived as/assigned. Sometimes associated with changes to the physical body or human form, such as body modification. Can also be used to draw parallels between somebody's experience with their gender identity & species identity.↑
• Tulpamancer / Tulpa : A tulpamancer is somebody who practices tulpamancy - creating tulpas. A tulpa is a headmate/being which was created intentionally or unintentionally through repeated interaction, & shares a body & mind with their creator.↑

V

• Vampire : Somebody who typically craves the energy of living entities, & obtains this energy through physical blood consumption, psychic energy draining, or a combination of both.

W

• Were : The original term for therianthropes, used in the earlier days of the online community. Can be used as a prefix while referring to species, EX: were-wolf, were-bat, were-deer, etc. 'Were' meaning 'man' in Old English.