people-first language

English - English

Definition of people-first language in English English dictionary

Related Terms

people-first language

politically correct language referring to disabilities by avoiding adjectives or the copula

people first language, which refers to the person first and the disability second: Americans with disabilities, for example, rather than disabled Americans, letter to the editor of BusinessWeek, published in Issue 3059 (1988).

Hyphenation

people-first lan-guage

Etymology

() US English. Grammatically a nominal phrase "people first" used as a hyphenated adjective modifying "language". As a term advocated by disability rights organizations in the United States from 1988.