A Therianthropy Glossary

A is for alterhuman, I suppose...

This page features a rather petit glossary I've prepared of terminology primarily related to therianthropy, as well as some I've come across concerning related topics. It will likely expand in the future. Not all definitions here are exhaustive, and I cannot give more than a cursory explanation of things I've no experience with, but I'm doing my best.

alterhuman: A broad, umbrella term for those who have an atypical spiritual or psychological experience of their own identity. Can include therians, otherkin, soulbonders, and many others.
awakening: The act of realizing one's own therian nature and discovering one's theriotype. This process can take multiple years and involves a lot of introspection.
cladotherianthropy: The state of identifying as a larger group of animals rather than as a single species. For example, a normal therian might identify as a housecat, whereas a cladotherian would identify as felines in general.
contherianthropy: Describes a therian who does not experience any shifts at all, owing to the complete integration of them with their therioside making shifts superfluous.
copinglink: A term for a non-otherkin, non-therian's connection to a nonhuman identity as a means of coping with life. It differs from otherkinity and therianthropy in that copinglinks are usually consciously chosen and do not imply a preexisting connection to the nonhuman identity.
fictionkin: Someone who identifies, spiritually or psychologically, with a fictional character or fictional species.
furry: A fan of anthropomorphic artwork in fiction and media.
greymuzzle: A community-specific term for a therian who's older and has been in the community for a very long time.
howl: A physical meetup of therians. Usually, howls are small, but large conventions have also taken place.
humankin: A term that started as a joke, referring to animals that act strangely human, thus suggesting they might have human souls. Tends to get applied mostly to particularly clever dogs and cats.
kintype: A general term for the nonhuman identity of an otherkin. For example, someone might say, "My kintype is a dragon," or, if therian, "My kintype is a lion."
mythkin: A term for otherkin who identify as mythical creatures such as dragons and elves.
otakukin: An older, mostly deprecated, term for fictionkin. In particular, it usually referred to fictionkin who identified as characters from anime. It comes from "otaku," a term for a fan of anime.
otherhearted: A term for those who don't identify as nonhuman, but who have a strong connection to a nonhuman entity or concept.
otherkin: A term for anyone who identifies as something other than human. It includes vampires, mythkin, and therians, among others.
Phytanthrope: Another term for plantkin.
Plantkin: A form of otherkin wherein the person identifies as a plant on some level, or with the energy of a plant.
polykin: An otherkin who identifies as more than one kintype or theriotype.
polytherian: A therian with two or more theriotypes.
psychological therianthropy: This perspective on therianthropy describes the experience in psychological terms and seeks psychological or biochemical explanations for therianthropy. This can include the theory that therians have an unusual biochemical makeup, or that therianthropy results from some form of evolutionary atavism. There are a wide variety of explanations for therianthropy, and many are psychologically-based.
septagram: Sometimes called the "Elven Star," this is a seven-pointed star that has become a symbol for otherkin over the years.
shift: The act of a therian becoming more like their therioside in a nonphysical way. Shifts are diverse and can create different experiences depending on whether they're emotional, mental, or spiritual. Sorry to disappoint, but these are never physical!
shifter's disease: Term coined to describe normal humans who inadvertently convince themselves that they're therians after extensive reading about therianthropy online. May overlap with wishkin or therianitis.
soulbonding: The phenomenon of a human or therian who is communicative spiritually with numerous other "souls." This means conversing with said entities as well as a certain level of identification with them. Often, the entities are fictional or mythic in nature. Those who experience this are called soulbonders.
spiritual therianthropy: This is a perspective that describes therianthropy in spiritual terms. Spiritual therians usually view their therianthropy as resulting from underlying spiritual realities such as the transmigration of souls. Reincarnation is, by far, the most popular spiritual therian belief, but other explanations do exist in terms of spirituality, as well. It may or may not be an accompaniment to the therian's religious beliefs, or lack thereof.
suntherian: This term was coined by a therian named Wordwolf. He describes it as "a therian whose therioside (primary or sole therioside) is integrated into his baseline personality. However, that integration does not prevent him/her from having minor fluctuations of mood that feel slightly more animal, or slightly less animal. He/she can feel them both at the same time, human and animal. He/she can not mental shift into his/her base theriotype (whether primary or sole).”
therian: A shortened form of "therianthrope," a therian is a person who identifies spiritually or psychologically with an earthly animal. This can include identification with creatures since extinct, or those that currently exist. It does not include identification with mythological beings such as dragons, though.
therianitis: A half-joking term for the phenomenon of therians who take their beliefs far too seriously, and claim impossible arcane powers or physical shifting abilities.
therioshamanism: A term that seems to have been coined by Lupa Greenwolf, to describe shamanistic or magical practices relating to the experience of being therian. Opinions on the validity of this term and the nature of shamanism itself are varied, but it is still sometimes used to describe therian-related magic and occult practices.
therioside: Related to theriotype, the term therioside refers to the specific animal aspects of a therian's being or personality. The theriotype is the species; the therioside is the specific animal itself. For example, an otter therian might say, "My therioside doesn't like carp, though most otters do!"
theriotype: This word refers to the specific sort of animal that a therian identifies as. For example, someone might say, "My theriotype is a tiger," meaning that they identify, either spiritually or psychologically, as a tiger.
theta delta: A theta (letter in the Greek alphabet) that is used as a symbol for therians when enclosed in a delta (another Greek letter). The first letter (theta) indicates therian, whereas the delta is meant to suggest shifting or change.
vacillant therian: Vacillant therians are those who experience shifting in a smooth, gradual way, and typically feel a strong degree of integration between their therian and human side. These therians still experience shifting, but it is less pronounced and more easily controlled in most cases. Typically, for these therians, shifts occur in specific situations consistently, though sudden shifts do occasionally happen.
yearning: Coined by me, I think? The strange feeling of discontent that accompanies awareness of a nonhuman identity for some people. It usually involves a wistful longing to return to one's therioside, while also being aware that such is impossible.