Shoreshthe drift report · all case files
Case file

Mukhannath

Wikipedia's first sentence called it “classical arabic for people who would now be called transgender women”. Today it says “term used in classical arabic and islamic cs”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Ambiguous sexuality in classic Arab culture”. It now reads “Ambiguous gender in classic Arab culture”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2025 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since. Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now. 1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2025

Mukhannath ( مُخَنَّث ; plural mukhannathun ( مُخَنَّثون ); "effeminate ones", "ones who resemble women") was a term used in Classical Arabic and Islamic literature to describe effeminate men or people with ambiguous sexual characteristics , who appeared feminine and functioned sexually or socially in roles typically carried out by women . Mukhannathun , especially those in the city of Medina , are mentioned throughout the ḥadīth literature and in the works of many early Arabic and Muslim writers. The historical role and gender identity of mukhannathun have been interpreted by predominantly Western academics of gender studies , Islamic studies , and social sciences as an ancient antecendent to the concept of transgender women in pre-modern Islamic societies . During the Rashidun era and first half of the Umayyad era , they were strongly associated with music and entertainment. During the Abbasid era , the word itself was used as a descriptor for men employed as dancers, musicians, and/or comedians. In later eras, the term mukhannath was associated with the receptive partner in gay sexual practices , an association that has persisted into the modern day. Khanith is a vernacular Arabic term used in some parts of the Arabian Peninsula to denote the gender role ascribed to males and occasionally intersex people who function sexually, and in some ways socially, as women. The term is closely related to the word mukhannath . Journal of the American Oriental Society . 111 (4). Women & Language . 41 (1): 97– 109. In Meisami, Julie Scott; Starkey, Paul (eds.). Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature .

This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1278409921.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “classical arabic for people who would now be called transgender women”. Today it says “term used in classical arabic and islamic cs”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Ambiguous sexuality in classic Arab culture”. It now reads “Ambiguous gender in classic Arab culture”. Read the current article and compare.
201020152020Oct '232025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.

What Wikipedia says this is

Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.

Then

classical arabic for people who would now be called transgender women

Now

term used in classical arabic and islamic cs

Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.

← back to the drift report