Dyke or Butch - What's the difference?

dyke | butch |

Dyke is a synonym of butch.


As nouns the difference between dyke and butch

is that dyke is (dike) or dyke can be (slang|pejorative) a lesbian, particularly one who appears macho or acts in a macho manner this word has been reclaimed, by some, as politically empowering (see usage notes) while butch is (informal) a lesbian who appears masculine or acts in a masculine manner.

As a adjective butch is

(slang) very masculine, with a masculine appearance or attitude.

Other Comparisons: What's the difference?

dyke

English

(wikipedia dyke)

Etymology 1

Variant of (dike).

Noun

(en noun)
  • (Australia, slang) A toilet.
    • 1977 , In Cubbaroo's dim distant past
    They built a double dyke.
    Back to back in the yard it stood
    An architectural dream in wood''
    — Ian Slack-Smith, ''The Passing of the Twin Seater'', from ''The Cubbaroo Tales'', 1977. Quoted in ''Aussie Humour     , Macmillan, 1988, ISBN 0-7251-0553-4, page 235.
  • (UK) A ditch (rarely also refers to similar natural features, and to one natural valley, Devil's Dyke, Sussex, due to a legend that the devil dug it).
  • (UK, mainly S England) An earthwork consisting of a ditch and a parallel rampart.
  • (British) An embankment to prevent inundation, or a causeway.
  • (UK, mainly Scotland and N England) A mound of earth, stone- or turf-faced, sometimes topped with hedge planting, or a hedge alone, used as a fence.
  • (UK, mainly Scotland and N England) A dry-stone wall usually forming a boundary to a wood, field or garden.
  • (British, geology) A body of once molten igneous rock that was injected into older rocks in a manner that crosses bedding planes.

    • Etymology 2

    ; various theories suggested. Attested US 1942, in Berrey and Van den Bark’s American Thesaurus of Slang''."dike, dyke, n.3" ''The Oxford English Dictionary . 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online. Oxford UP. 4 Apr. 2000 .
    Synonyms
    * See also
    Derived terms
    * bulldyke

    References

    Anagrams

    * ----

    butch

    English

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Very masculine, with a masculine appearance or attitude.

    • Synonyms

    * macho, manly, mannish, unfeminine

    Noun

    (es)
  • (informal) A lesbian who appears masculine or acts in a masculine manner.

    • Synonyms

    * (masculine lesbian) bulldyke, dyke * See also

    Antonyms

    * femme