acault

/ət͡ʃaʊ/

Etymology

A mistranslation of Burmese အခြောက် (a.hkrauk /⁠ăhcauʔ⁠/, “dry article; homosexual man”), from အ (a. /⁠ă⁠/, noun-forming prefix) + ခြောက် (hkrauk /⁠hcauʔ⁠/, “dry”). Apparently introduced before 1987 by Coleman et al. (see quotation below) who had an "inability to speak the local languages" and a "lack of training in anthropology".

noun

A male who has special role in Myanmar folk religion and behaves in a way usually associated with women.“According to a recent travelers' report (Coleman, Celgon, and Gooren, 1987), the hijra community of India (see this chapter) has a counterpart in Burma, where men who live as women are called acault (pronounced a·chow').”