epicene
An epicene word; preceded by the: the epicene words of a language as a classAn epicene word; preceded by the: the epicene words of a language as a class.
» The word "single" is epicene.
Adelpa · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
4 sensesAn epicene word; preceded by the: the epicene words of a language as a class.
Epicönum, Epikoinon
(figuratively)An epicene person, whether biologically asexual, androgynous, hermaphrodite, or intersex; an androgyne, a hermaphrodite.
(broadly)A transsexual; also, a transvestite.
(broadly, derogatory, usually)An effeminate man.
- one having both male and female sexual characteristics and organs; at birth an unambiguous assignment of male or female cannot be made
Examples
1 sentencesThe word "single" is epicene.
Translations
4 languagesBy meaning 1
Origin
From Late Middle English epicene, epicen, epicin, epcyn, episcen, epycen, epycene, epycyn,From Late Middle English epicene, epicen, epicin, epcyn, episcen, epycen, epycene, epycyn, ypsen (“(grammar) having only one form for masculine and feminine gender, common”), from Late Latin epicoenos, epicoenus (“of a noun: applicable to either males or females”), Latin epicoenon (“noun applicable to either males or females; grammatical gender of such nouns”), from Ancient Greek ἐπίκοινος (epíkoinos, “common to many people, things, etc.; promiscuous, sluttish”) (compare γένος ἐπίκοινον (génos epíkoinon, “common gender”)), from ἐπι- (epi-, prefix meaning ‘on, upon; on top of; all over’) + κοινός (koinós, “common; general, public”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“beside, by, near, with”) + *-yós (suffix forming adjectives from noun stems)).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: epicenesSynonyms
5 synonyms- one having both male and female sexual characteristics and organs; at birth an unambiguous assignment of male or female cannot be made:hermaphroditeintersexgynandromorphandrogyneepicene person
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.