Birther

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈbɝθɚ/

Definitions

1. A person who believes that a particular political figure was not born in their claimed country of origin, typically used to describe those who questioned a leader's citizenship status
2. An individual who doubts the claimed nativity or nationality of a public official typically in politics
3. Someone who challenges the legitimacy of a leader’s claim to citizenship based on birthplace assertions

Etymology: The word is a plain formation: "birth" with the agent suffix "-er," producing "one who does the thing associated with birth." Its meaning, however, owes everything to a single political controversy. Its sense as a noun for a person who doubts a politician's birthplace was shaped by the public dispute over Barack Obama's birth certificate during his presidential campaigns and first term, when those who promoted the claim that he was born outside the United States became widely known by this name. The suffix does real work here. "-er" is the same ending found in "believer" or "doubter," and it turns a process into a person. The sense of "birth" in the word therefore points to the question of where someone was born, which is why the term is attached to the citizenship dispute rather than to any broader idea of birth. The word is a short, transparent compound, and its story is mostly the story of how a political debate gave a generic formation a precise, partisan meaning.