English

Noun

sworn virgin ‎(plural sworn virgins)

1. A person, born a woman, who adopts a traditional masculine third-gender or transmasculine role in the Balkans, wearing masculine clothing and performing masculine tasks, and traditionally swearing a vow of chastity.
   • 2012, Andreas Hemming, ‎Gentiana Kera, ‎Enriketa Pandelejmoni, Albania: Family, Society and Culture in the 20th Century (ISBN 3643501447), page 172:

     Anila, who prefers to be called Rrok (a male name) [...] displays a significant number of the attributes of the more traditional sworn virgins: male attire, short hair, assertive male gestures and a self-confident stride, but his reason for assuming the role is not traditional. [...] He explains that it not only gives him freedom to wander around the village; [...]

2. Used other than as an idiom: see sworn,‎ virgin.

Translations

See also

• two-spirit, transgender, non-binary/genderqueer