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Also available:
World English Dictionary
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epicene
ep·i·cene
[
éppi sn
]
adjective
Definition:
1.
having characteristics of both genders:
having both male and female characteristics
2.
neither male nor female:
of neither male nor female gender
3.
weak:
lacking vigor and strength
4.
with female characteristics:
describes a male having typically female characteristics
(
literary
)
5.
grammar
same for masculine and feminine:
having only one grammatical form for both masculine and feminine in languages where nouns have genders
noun
(
plural
ep·i·cenes
)
Definition:
1.
somebody of unclear gender:
a person of indeterminate gender
(
literary
)
2.
grammar
epicene noun:
a noun with the same grammatical form for both masculine and feminine in languages where nouns have genders
[
15th century. Via late Latin< Greek
epikoinos
"in common" <
koinos
"common"
]
ep·i·cen·ism
[
éppissi nìzzəm
]
noun
Encarta® World English Dictionary [North American Edition] © & (P)2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
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