epicene person

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epicene person

An epicene person is depicted in a medical textbook diagram.

Definition

Noun: * An individual possessing both male and female biological sexual characteristics and reproductive organs. This condition, often identified at birth, makes it impossible to assign a definitively male or female sex classification.

Usage Notes
  • This term is a specific, formal, and often clinical or academic term for an intersex person. In modern, person-first language, terms like "intersex person" are generally preferred.
  • The word "epicene" itself, when used as an adjective, can describe something that has characteristics of both sexes or is lacking gender distinction. However, "epicene person" is a fixed noun phrase with the specific meaning defined above.
Examples
  • The medical team consulted specialists because the newborn was an epicene person.
  • Historical records sometimes refer to individuals now understood to be intersex as an epicene person.
Advanced Usage
  • The term is primarily found in medical, biological, anthropological, or historical texts. Its use in everyday conversation is rare and can be considered outdated or insensitive.
Variants and Related Words
  • Intersex person (n.): The contemporary and more widely accepted term for an epicene person.
  • Hermaphrodite (n.): An older, now often considered outdated and sometimes offensive, biological term for an organism with both male and female reproductive organs. Its application to humans is largely superseded by "intersex."
  • Epicene (adj.): Possessing qualities or characteristics of both sexes; also, lacking gender distinction or being effeminate (when applied to a male).
Synonyms
  • Intersex individual
  • Person with intersex traits
  • (In specific biological/zoological contexts) Hermaphrodite
Antonyms
  • Biologically male person
  • Biologically female person
Related Phrases/Idioms
  • Of indeterminate sex: A descriptive phrase meaning the sex cannot be determined, often used in similar contexts.
  • Born with ambiguous genitalia: A clinical description of one of the possible physical manifestations leading to the identification of an intersex condition.
epicene person

An epicene person is depicted in a medical textbook diagram.

Noun
  1. one having both male and female sexual characteristics and organs; at birth an unambiguous assignment of male or female cannot be made