Hypertext Webster Gateway: "epicene"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Epicene \Ep"i*cene\, a. & n. [L. epicoenus, Gr. ?; fr. 'epi` + ?
common; cf. F. ['e]pic[`e]ne.]
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 boy^s, 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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
epicene
adj 1: having an ambiguous sexual identity [syn: {bisexual}]
2: having unsuitable feminine qualities [syn: {effeminate}, {emasculate},
{cissy}, {sissified}, {sissyish}, {sissy}]
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