Herstory

//ˈhɜːst(ə)ɹi// noun, slang

noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    History that emphasizes the role of women, or that is told from a woman's (or from a feminist) point of view. countable, slang, uncountable

    ""Mama's Lullaby" shared the growth of McCord's appreciation for her mother and a prayer that her infant son might someday "sing this motther song with me"; a blending of the strong herstory of women's survival with the hope that men of the future will learn to praise their own capacity for nurturance."

  2. 2
    Any historical writing by or about women. countable, uncountable
  3. 3
    Biographical material about a woman. countable, uncountable

    "Nobody thought of it as history, herstory, my-story, your-story, or our-story."

Example

More examples

""Mama's Lullaby" shared the growth of McCord's appreciation for her mother and a prayer that her infant son might someday "sing this motther song with me"; a blending of the strong herstory of women's survival with the hope that men of the future will learn to praise their own capacity for nurturance."

Etymology

Wordplay: blend of her + history, derived as though the first syllable in history were his, the male determiner.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.