epicene

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In a more recent movement, "hir" and "ze" (pronounced "here" and "zee") are sometimes used to describe transgender people - a contemporary challenge that confronts the idea of epicene English like never before.

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Definitions (11)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (6)

  1. adjective Belonging to or having the characteristics of both the male and the female: an epicene statue.
  2. adjective Effeminate; unmanly.
  3. adjective Sexless; neuter.
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Examples (50)

  • Is it particularly obscene No, epicene, I fancy Oh, I see. —  The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club - Dorothy L Sayers
  • But this reaffirmation of gender-neutral "he" more likely stems from modern-day ideas of women's rights and interpretation of the constitution than the belief that "he" is epicene. —  The Michigan Daily
  • In a more recent movement, "hir" and "ze" (pronounced "here" and "zee") are sometimes used to describe transgender people - a contemporary challenge that confronts the idea of epicene English like never before. —  The Michigan Daily
  • As Dakin, the precocious rake whose extracurriculars include seducing the school secretary and coming on heavy to Irwin, Brett Thiele is a young Warren Beatty type, with that special brand of luscious-lipped, epicene beauty. —  Dallas Observer | Complete Issue
  • Yet as an epicene in a tough Irish immigrant community, an obviously creative child in a school without drama, art, or dance classes of any kind, Morrissey came by his —  Slate Magazine
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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, having only one form of the noun for either gender, from Latin epicoenus, from Greek epikoinos, in common : epi-, epi- + koinos, common; see kom in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Latin epicænus, from Greek επίκοινος, common, from ἐπί, upon, to, + κοινός, common: see cenobite, etc.
 

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/ˈɛpɪsin/
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