From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
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.
[1913 Webster]
2. Fig.: Sexless; neither one thing nor the other.
[1913 Webster]
The literary prigs epicene. --Prof.
Wilson.
[1913 Webster]
He represented an epicene species, neither churchman
nor layman. --J. A.
Symonds.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
epicene
adj 1: having an ambiguous sexual identity [syn: {bisexual},
{epicene}]
2: having unsuitable feminine qualities [syn: {effeminate},
{emasculate}, {epicene}, {cissy}, {sissified}, {sissyish},
{sissy}]
n 1: one having both male and female sexual characteristics and
organs; at birth an unambiguous assignment of male or
female cannot be made [syn: {hermaphrodite}, {intersex},
{gynandromorph}, {androgyne}, {epicene}, {epicene person}]
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