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''Epicene'' is an adjective (sometimes substantive) that indicates lack of gender distinction, often specifically loss of masculinity. It includes: * effeminacy – a man who adopts feminine behavior, demeanor, or dress; * androgyny – having both masculine and feminine characteristics. ==Specialized uses== In linguistics, the adjective ''epicene'' is used to describe a word that has only one form for both male and female referents. In some cases, the term ''common'' is also used – but shouldn't be mixed up with ''common'' or ''appellative'' as a contrary to ''proper'' (as in proper noun). In English, for example, the epicene (''or'' common) nouns ''cousin'' and ''violinist'' can refer to a man or a woman, and so can the epicene (''or'' common) pronoun ''one''. The noun ''stewardess'' and the third-person singular pronouns ''he'' and ''she'' on the other hand are not epicene (''or'' common).〔(Dictionary.com: ''epicene'' ) (accessed on 10 August 2015)〕 In languages with grammatical gender, the term ''epicene'' can be used in two distinct situations:〔 * ''In this sense the term "common" is differed from "epicene".'' The same word can refer to both masculine and feminine antecedents, while retaining its own, either masculine or feminine, grammatical gender. For example, Classical Greek ''hare'' is masculine, but can refer to male and female hares (he-hares and she-hares), and ''fox'' is feminine, but can refer to male and female foxes (he-foxes and she-foxes).〔William W. Goodwin: ''A Greek Grammar. Revised and enlarged.'' Boston, published by Ginn & Company, 1895, p.35, §.158〕 * ''For this sense also the term "common" is used.'' A noun or adjective has identical masculine and feminine forms. For example, in French, the noun ''enfant'' "child" and the adjective ''espiègle'' "mischievous" can be either masculine or feminine: ::''un enfant espiègle'' (masculine) "a mischievous male child" ::''une enfant espiègle'' (feminine) "a mischievous female child" 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「epicene」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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