fakafifine
Niuean
Etymology
From faka + fifine (“woman”). Cognate to Maori whakawahine and Samoan fa'afafine.
Noun
fakafifine
- Synonym of fiafifine
- 2019 August 31, Alan Weedon, “Fa'afafine, fakaleitī, fakafifine — understanding the Pacific's alternative gender expressions”, in ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (in English), retrieved 2020-05-31:
- In Samoa, people assigned male at birth who live as women are known as fa'afafine, which literally translates to "in the fashion of a woman". Similar identities to fa'afafine are found in Tonga (fakaleitī or leitī), Fiji (vaka sa lewa lewa), Niue (fakafifine), Kiribati and Tuvalu (pinapinaaine), the Cook Islands (akava'ine) and New Zealand (whakawāhine).