sworn virgin

noun

A person, assigned female at birth, 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.

Meanings

nounsworn virgin (plural sworn virgins)

plural sworn virgins

  1. A person, assigned female at birth, 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.
    1 more example

    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; [...]

    2012, Andreas Hemming, Gentiana Kera, Enriketa Pandelejmoni, Albania: Family, Society and Culture in the 20th Century, →ISBN, page 172
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see sworn, virgin.

Translations

German geschworene Jungfrau, Schwurjungfrau
  • geschworene Jungfrauperson who has a masculine third-gender role in the Balkans
  • Schwurjungfrauperson who has a masculine third-gender role in the Balkans
Italian vergine giurata
  • vergine giurataperson who has a masculine third-gender role in the Balkans
Polish dziewica Kanunu
  • dziewica Kanunuperson who has a masculine third-gender role in the Balkans
Cite this entry
APA

sworn virgin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sworn%20virgin

MLA

“sworn virgin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sworn%20virgin. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sworn virgin,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sworn%20virgin.

Source: sworn virgin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.