epicene Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun one having both male and female sexual characteristics and organs; at birth an unambiguous assignment of male or female cannot be made
    androgyne; intersex; gynandromorph; hermaphrodite; epicene person.
  2. adjective satellite having an ambiguous sexual identity
    bisexual.
  3. adjective satellite having unsuitable feminine qualities
    emasculate; cissy; sissyish; effeminate; sissy; sissified.

WordNet

Ep"i*cene adjective & noun
Etymology
L. epicoenus, Gr. fr. + common; cf. F. épicène.
Definitions
  1. Common to both sexes; -- a term applied, in grammar, to such nouns as have but one form of gender, either the masculine or feminine, to indicate animals of both sexes; as , bos, for the ox and cow; sometimes applied to eunuchs and hermaphrodites.
  2. Fig.: Sexless; neither one thing nor the other.
    The literary prigs epicene. Prof. Wilson.
    He represented an epicene species, neither churchman nor layman. J. A. Symonds.

Webster 1913