androgyne

American  

[an-druh-jahyn] / ˈæn drəˌdʒaɪn /

noun

1. an androgynous person, such as one whose appearance is neither clearly masculine nor clearly feminine.

2. a person whose gender identity is linked to androgyny, such as by being a blend of male and female or by being neither male nor female.

3. 1. Older Use: Often Offensive. a person having reproductive characteristics of both sexes.

   2. a mythical early form of human in which the sexes had not been divided into two separate categories, and instead each person was both male and female at the same time.

4. Botany. a plant having staminate and pistillate flowers in the same inflorescence.

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androgyne British  

/ ˈændrəˌdʒaɪn /

noun

1. another word for hermaphrodite

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Etymology

Origin of androgyne

First recorded in 1545–55; from Middle French, from Latin androgynus, from Greek andrógynos “hermaphrodite,” equivalent to andro- + gyn- + -os, masculine noun suffix

Example Sentences

On platinum albums including “Antichrist Superstar” and “Mechanical Animals,” Manson cultivated a character — part Alice Cooper, part androgyne glam monster — that antagonized the religious right and enraptured teenagers.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 5, 2021

In "The Garden of Eden," David Bourne often refers to Catherine — Hemingway's androgyne avatar — as "Devil."

From Salon • Apr. 12, 2021

Rather than sounding like a boy, Cher’s voice in the 1960s suggests a coming era of the androgyne, with a whiff of all that multicultural, multiethnic and thrillingly exotic territory beyond race and gender.

From Washington Post • Nov. 26, 2018

The event featured performances by collaborators including the strapping singer Paul Parker and the inimitable androgyne Sylvester.

From New York Times • Aug. 5, 2016

Billy was helped to his feet by the lovely boy, by the heavenly androgyne.

From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut