Word.ws English Dictionary

epicene

Syllables: epi·cene/ˈɛp.ɪˌsiːn/US/ˈɛp.əˌsin/

epicene adjective: of or relating to a class of Greek and Latin nouns that may refer to males or females but have a fixed grammatical gender (feminine, masculine, neuter, etc.).

epicene: of or relating to a class of Greek and Latin nouns that may refer to males or females but have a...
Image: Hartmann Linge, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Adjective

epicene (not comparable)

  1. Of or relating to a class of Greek and Latin nouns that may refer to males or females but have a fixed grammatical gender (feminine, masculine, neuter, etc.).
    • Q. How will you diſtinguiſh the Maſculine hic from the Epicene hic, and the Feminine hæc from the Epicene hæc? / A. That word that hath hic before it, and is onely male, is the Maſculine gender: but if it be both male and female, then it is the Epicene Gender: and ſo hæc before a female, is...1665, Ch[arles] Hoole, “Of a Noun”, in The Terminations and Examples of the Declensions and Conjugations: […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Printed by John Field, printer to the University, →OCLC, page...
    • Epicene nouns are equally misunderstood: they are of one gender only. These, like the common, represent under one word each member of a pair of animals—the male and the female: thus passer—a sparrow—denotes the cock sparrow, as well as the hen: but in the use of these words there is no variation of...1843, Richard Haynes, “Of Nouns Substantive”, in A Commentary on the Eton Latin-grammar. … Orthography and Etymology, Bristol: Printed and published for the author, by John Wright & Co., […], →OCLC...
  2. Of or relating to nouns or pronouns in any language that have a single form for male and female referents.
    • In Telugu some confusion has been introduced between the epicene sign of plurality 'ar-u', and the neuter 'lu.' [...] Thus the Telugu demonstrative pronoun 'vâr-u,' they (the plural of 'vâḍu,' he), corresponding to the Canarese 'avar-u,' exhibits the regular epicene plural; while 'magaḍu,' a...1856, R[obert] Caldwell, “Section III. The Noun.”, in A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages, London; Edinburgh: Williams and Norgate […], →OCLC, part I (Gender...
    Synonyms:
    common
  3. (broadly) Suitable for use regardless of sex; unisex.
    • Boating when epicene is nice, in truth, / E'en though one must allow, / The danger of giving the helm to youth / While pleasure rules the prow. / [...] / 'Tis best when Frank takes his cousin ashore, / She loves botanising, / While Sissy who's left, can handle an oar / In a manner surprising.1878 June, “Ludovic” [pseudonym], “Epicene Boating”, in The Kentish Magazine: A Literary Monthly Miscellany for the County, number II, Maidstone, Kent: Burgiss-Brown, […]; London: Simpkin, Marshall &...
  4. (figuratively) Of indeterminate sex, whether asexual, androgynous, hermaphrodite, or intersex; of a human face, intermediate in form between a man's face and a woman's face.
    • Five High School boys came down the road abreast. Ellis saw them coming, a row of yellow, malicious faces—epicene faces, horribly smooth and young, grinning at him with deliberate insolence.1934 October, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Burmese Days, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, →OCLC; republished as chapter 22, in Burmese Days (ebook no. 0200051h.html)...
    • The 1960's may well be remembered as the epicene era. Boys grew long hair and bangs; girls adopted trousers, vests and peaked caps – and with everyone wearing tight pants and boots, your guess is as good as ours whether that was a guy or a gal who just went by![1969], “Verbia” [pseudonym], with Miriam Berg, A Play on Words, [New York, N.Y.]: Macmillan, →OCLC, page 160
  5. (broadly) Indeterminate; mixed.
  6. (broadly, derogatory, usually) Of a man: effeminate.
    • A lot of rather etiolated, epicene, middle-class, male intellectuals have discovered a new authenticity when they come to identify themselves as football fans.1994 August, Will Self, “The valley of the corn dollies”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, published 17 January 2014, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original...
    • Here it is vital to turn up at least half an hour early, when you find a kitsch variety show, ostensibly staged by a Gibraltarian touring company, in full, ghastly progress. It is certainly nothing if not international: Austria is symbolised by lederhosen and dirndls; gay Paree by boaters and...2005 August 18, Michael Billington, “Nuts CocoNuts [theatre review]”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 Sep 2014

Noun

epicene (plural epicenes)

  1. An epicene word; preceded by the: the epicene words of a language as a class.
    • Which ſort of Words the Grammarians call Epicœnes (ἐπίκοινος from κοινός common), becauſe they under one Gender, which they commonly take from the Termination, comprehend both Kinds; [...] [Marcus Terentius] Varro, after the example of Ennius and [Quinus] Fabius Pictor, has uſed ſome of theſe...1712, Michael Maittaire [i.e., Michel Maittaire], “The Heterology of Words”, in The English Grammar: Or, An Essay on the Art of Grammar, Applied to and Exemplified in the English Tongue, London...
    • Ward, in his improvement of [William] Lily's Latin Grammar, reckons Seven Genders, viz. Maſculine, Feminine, Neuter, Common of two, Common of three, Doubtful, and Epicene; in his improvement of the Greek Grammar, he names only Four, viz. Maſculine, Feminine, Neuter, and Common; injudiciouſly, I...1782, B[enjamin] Webb, An Essay on Education; or, An Address to Parents and Guardians. In Two Parts, Reading, Berkshire: Printed for the author, by Carnan and Smart, →OCLC, part I, pages 12–13
  2. (figuratively) An epicene person, whether biologically asexual, androgynous, hermaphrodite, or intersex; an androgyne, a hermaphrodite.
    • Onely one Iſland they have, is call'd the Iſle of the Epecœnes, becauſe there under one Article both kindes are ſignified, for they are faſhioned alike, male and female the ſame, [...] you doe not know the delight of the Epicœnes in Moon-ſhine.1620 January 17 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Benjamin Jonson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Newes from the New World Discover’d in the Moon. A Masque, […]”, in The Workes of Benjamin Jonson. The...
    • Again, the division of the higher forms of animal life into males and females—obnoxious as it is to the champions of the Woman's Rights Movement, and inconvenient as it proves to a certain class of world-betterers—can neither be abrogated nor explained away. There is, to be sure, a time in the life...1875 January, “IV. The Boundary between Man and the Lower Animals.”, in William Crookes, editor, The Quarterly Journal of Science, and Annals of Mining, Metallurgy, Engineering, Industrial Arts...
  3. (broadly) A transsexual; also, a transvestite.
    • Epicoene, or The ſilent VVoman. A comœdie. [title page][1609 December (first performance), Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Epicoene, or The Silent Woman. A Comœdie. […]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby...
    • Of Transvestites and Other Epicenes [article title]1965 March, David Lee Pagari, “Of Transvestites and Other Epicenes”, in Paul Krassner, editor, The Realist: Freethought Criticism and Satire, number 57, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 Nov...
  4. (broadly, derogatory, usually) An effeminate man.
    • [W]hat ſhall be urged in defence of any male creature, who not only adopts every effeminate foible, but glories in them; and affects to deſpiſe and ridicule the rough unpoliſhed creature, who has ſenſe and ſpirit enough to perſiſt in the manly port of his forefathers? Should it be aſked by any...1748 June, “Remembrancer, June 11. Epicurism Ruinous to the State.”, in The Scots Magazine. […], volume X, Edinburgh: Printed by W. Sands, A. Murray, and J. Cochran, →OCLC, page 286

epicene meaning in Tamil, Malayalam and Sinhala

epicene in Tamil

ஆண் தன்மை, பெண் தன்மை இரண்டும் உடைய, பாலற்ற, திருநங்கை, அரவாணி, அலி

epicene in Malayalam

asexual, sexless, neuter
ഉഭയലിംഗമായ, അലിംഗമായ, നിർല്ലിംഗ, നപുംസ, നപുംസക, ഇരുലിംഗങ്ങളുടെയും സവിശേഷതകളുള്ള
unmanly, effeminate, unmasculine
ദുർബലമായ, സ്ത്രീസ്വഭാവമായ, ആണത്തമില്ലാത്ത, ആണത്തമറ്റ, പൗരുഷഹീനമായ, സ്ത്രൈണ

epicene in Sinhala

උභයලිංගික

Examples of epicene in a sentence

  • How will you diſtinguiſh the Maſculine hic from the Epicene hic, and the Feminine hæc from the Epicene hæc? / A.1665, Ch[arles] Hoole, “Of a Noun”, in The Terminations and Examples of the Declensions and Conjugations: […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire...
  • Epicene nouns are equally misunderstood: they are of one gender only.1843, Richard Haynes, “Of Nouns Substantive”, in A Commentary on the Eton Latin-grammar. … Orthography and Etymology, Bristol: Printed and...
  • Ovis, therefore, is epicene, and, moreover, a true epicene, like volpes, aquila, merula, avis, panthera, corvus, and others.1917, Horace Wetherill Wright, The Sacra Idulia in Ovid’s Fasti: A Study of Ovid’s Credibility in Regard to the Place and the Victim of...
  • There is a kind of aesthetic masturbation here akin to Elmer's love of impregnable, virginal epicene women.1974, Thomas McHaney, “The Elmer Papers: [William] Faulkner’s Comic Portraits of the Artist”, in James B. Meriwether, editor, A Faulkner...

Synonyms of epicene

Forms of epicene

Adjective
alternative form (obsolete)epicœne
alternative form (obsolete)epicoene
Noun
pluralepicenes

Origin of epicene

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)).

Words formed from epicene

Questions about epicene

What does epicene mean?
Epicene means of or relating to a class of Greek and Latin nouns that may refer to males or females but have a fixed grammatical gender (feminine, masculine, neuter, etc.).
What is epicene in Tamil?
Epicene in Tamil is ஆண் தன்மை, பெண் தன்மை இரண்டும் உடைய, பாலற்ற. See Epicene meaning in Tamil.
How do you use epicene in a sentence?
How will you diſtinguiſh the Maſculine hic from the Epicene hic, and the Feminine hæc from the Epicene hæc? / A.
What part of speech is epicene?
Epicene can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce epicene?
Epicene is pronounced /ˈɛp.ɪˌsiːn/ (UK).

Words near epicene in the dictionary

  1. epicedians
  2. epicedium
  3. epicedrol
  4. epicellular
  5. epicellularly
  6. epicene
  7. epicene they
  8. epiceneness
  9. epicenes
  10. epicenism
  11. epicenity

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: epicene (page history and authors); epicene (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); epicene (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); epicene (Sinhala Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-epicene.wav.

Cite this entry: “epicene.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/epicene. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.