Epicene
Encyclopedia
Epicene is an adjective
(sometimes substantive) for loss of gender
distinction, often specific loss of masculinity
. It includes:
epikoinos , literally epi and koinos .
— Regis Nicoll. 'Is Gender Just a State of Mind?' In Salvo Magazine 2 (2007): 42-47.
— Bill Cooke. 'Thoughts and Comments'. In The Open Society 78 (2005): 21.
— Franz Lidz. 'Summer Films/Rising Stars: He Didn't Turn Out Obscure at All'. New York Times, 13 May 2001.
— Kuja's Description, Dissidia: Final Fantasy
.
— Ronald Bergan. Sergei Eisenstein: A Life in Conflict. Overlook Hardcover, 1999.
— Almroth E Wright
. The Unexpurgated Case Against Woman Suffrage. New York: Paul B Hoeber, 1913.
— Sarah Grand
. 'The New Woman and the Old'. Lady's Realm (1898): 466.
— Charles Grant Blairfindie Allen
. 'Plain Words on the Woman Question'. In Fortnightly Review
52 (1889): 448-458.
— Evelyn Waugh
. Brideshead Revisited
(1944).
, the adjective "epicene" is used to describe a word that has only one form for both male and female referents. The term "common" is also used. In English, for example, the words "assassin", "cousin" and "violinist" can refer to either a man or a woman.
The word "he," although often regarded as masculine, is also considered to be epicene by some; alternatively, the more evidently epicene word "they" is used by some as a singular, generic, non-referring
pronoun (technically, anaphora
) (see also: Singular they
).
In languages with grammatical gender
, the term "epicene" can be used in two distinct situations:
Adjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
(sometimes substantive) for loss of gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
distinction, often specific loss of masculinity
Masculinity
Masculinity is possessing qualities or characteristics considered typical of or appropriate to a man. The term can be used to describe any human, animal or object that has the quality of being masculine...
. It includes:
- effeminacyEffeminacyEffeminacy describes traits in a human male, that are more often associated with traditional feminine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or gender roles rather than masculine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or roles....
— a manManThe term man is used for an adult human male . However, man is sometimes used to refer to humanity as a whole...
with characteristics that are traditionally feminineFemininityFemininity is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with girls and women. Though socially constructed, femininity is made up of both socially defined and biologically created factors... - androgynyAndrogynyAndrogyny is a term derived from the Greek words ανήρ, stem ανδρ- and γυνή , referring to the combination of masculine and feminine characteristics...
— having both masculine and feminine characteristics, or - asexualityAsexualityAsexuality , in its broadest sense, is the lack of sexual attraction and, in some cases, the lack of interest in sex. Sometimes, it is considered a lack of a sexual orientation...
— a lack of sexual interest in any gender.
Etymology
Epicene derives via Latin epicœnus from GreekGreek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
epikoinos , literally epi and koinos .
Usage
- "In a garage band of my own, I sported the longer hair and cross-cutting fashions of the epicene trend."
— Regis Nicoll. 'Is Gender Just a State of Mind?' In Salvo Magazine 2 (2007): 42-47.
- of Harvey Wright: "He is best known for the sign he displayed in his shop addressed to 'epicene women', advising them to stay at home and not trouble themselves with affairs of the world best left to men."
— Bill Cooke. 'Thoughts and Comments'. In The Open Society 78 (2005): 21.
- of Jude LawJude LawDavid Jude Heyworth Law , known professionally as Jude Law, is an English actor, film producer and director.He began acting with the National Youth Music Theatre in 1987, and had his first television role in 1989...
: "He has a clear-eyed, epicene handsomeness — cruel, sensuous mouth; cheekbones to cut your heart on — the sort of excessive beauty that is best appreciated in repose on a 50-foot screen."
— Franz Lidz. 'Summer Films/Rising Stars: He Didn't Turn Out Obscure at All'. New York Times, 13 May 2001.
- "A sadistic, narcissistic silver-haired man of a delicate, epicene beauty."
— Kuja's Description, Dissidia: Final Fantasy
Dissidia: Final Fantasy
is an action RPG/fighting game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable as part of the campaign of the Final Fantasy series 20th anniversary. Information on the game was first released during the "Square Enix Party" event of May 2008...
.
- "She smothers (almost literally at times) her weak, epicene son Vladimir, and is prepared to commit any crime to see him become Tsar, despite his reluctance."
— Ronald Bergan. Sergei Eisenstein: A Life in Conflict. Overlook Hardcover, 1999.
- "Society shall be converted into an epicene institution."
— Almroth E Wright
Almroth Wright
Sir Almroth Edward Wright, KBE, CB was a British bacteriologist and immunologist.He is notable for developing a system of anti-typhoid fever inoculation, recognizing early on that antibiotics would create resistant bacteria and being a strong advocate for preventive medicine.-Biography:Wright was...
. The Unexpurgated Case Against Woman Suffrage. New York: Paul B Hoeber, 1913.
- "Who is this New Woman, this epicene creature, this Gorgon set up by the snarly who impute to her the faults of both sexes while denying her the charm of either — where is she to be found if she exists at all?"
— Sarah Grand
Sarah Grand
Sarah Grand was a British feminist writer active from 1873 to 1922. Her work revolved around the New Woman ideal.- Early Life and Influences of Frances Elizabeth Bellenden Clarke:...
. 'The New Woman and the Old'. Lady's Realm (1898): 466.
- of emancipated woman: "[a] dulled a spiritless epicene automaton."
— Charles Grant Blairfindie Allen
Grant Allen
Charles Grant Blairfindie Allen was a science writer, author and novelist, and a successful upholder of the theory of evolution.-Biography:...
. 'Plain Words on the Woman Question'. In Fortnightly Review
Fortnightly Review
Fortnightly Review was one of the most important and influential magazines in nineteenth-century England. It was founded in 1865 by Anthony Trollope, Frederic Harrison, Edward Spencer Beesly, and six others with an investment of £9,000; the first edition appeared on 15 May 1865...
52 (1889): 448-458.
- "He represented an epicene species, neither churchman nor layman." — John Addington SymondsJohn Addington SymondsJohn Addington Symonds was an English poet and literary critic. Although he married and had a family, he was an early advocate of male love , which he believed could include pederastic as well as egalitarian relationships. He referred to it as l'amour de l'impossible...
. - "The literary prigs epicene." — Horace WilsonHorace Wilson (professor)Horace Wilson was an American expatriate educator in late 19th century Empire of Japan. He is one of the persons credited with introducing the sport of baseball to Japan.-Biography:Wilson was born in Gorham, Maine...
. - "Epicene [...] Convents, wherein Monks and Nuns lived together." — Thomas FullerThomas FullerThomas Fuller was an English churchman and historian. He is now remembered for his writings, particularly his Worthies of England, published after his death...
, c. 1661. - Epicene Wildeblood is a character in the Illuminatus!The Illuminatus! TrilogyThe Illuminatus! Trilogy is a series of three novels written by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson first published in 1975. The trilogy is a satirical, postmodern, science fiction-influenced adventure story; a drug-, sex-, and magick-laden trek through a number of conspiracy theories, both...
trilogy. - "He was entrancing, with that epicene beauty which in extreme youth sings aloud for love and withers at the first cold wind."
— Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
. Brideshead Revisited
Brideshead Revisited
Brideshead Revisited, The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder is a novel by English writer Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1945. Waugh wrote that the novel "deals with what is theologically termed 'the operation of Grace', that is to say, the unmerited and unilateral act of love by...
(1944).
- Epicoene, or the Silent WomanEpicoene, or the Silent WomanEpicœne, or The silent woman, also known as The Epicene, is a comedy by Renaissance playwright Ben Jonson. It was originally performed by the Blackfriars Children, a group of boy players, in 1609...
is a RenaissanceRenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
play by Ben JonsonBen JonsonBenjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
.
Specialized uses
In linguisticsLinguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, the adjective "epicene" is used to describe a word that has only one form for both male and female referents. The term "common" is also used. In English, for example, the words "assassin", "cousin" and "violinist" can refer to either a man or a woman.
The word "he," although often regarded as masculine, is also considered to be epicene by some; alternatively, the more evidently epicene word "they" is used by some as a singular, generic, non-referring
Referring expression
A referring expression , in linguistics, is any noun phrase, or surrogate for a noun phrase, whose function in a text is "pick out" someone an individual person, place, object, or a set of persons, places, objects, etc. The technical terminology for "pick out" differs a great deal from one...
pronoun (technically, anaphora
Anaphora (linguistics)
In linguistics, anaphora is an instance of an expression referring to another. Usually, an anaphoric expression is represented by a pro-form or some other kind of deictic--for instance, a pronoun referring to its antecedent...
) (see also: Singular they
Singular they
Singular they is the use of they to refer to an entity that is not plural, or not necessarily plural. Though singular they is widespread in everyday English and has a long history of usage, debate continues about its acceptability...
).
In languages with grammatical gender
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
, the term "epicene" can be used in two distinct situations:
- The same word can refer to both masculine and feminine antecedents, while retaining its own grammatical gender. For example, in New Testament Greek, parthenos is a feminine noun, but masculine in form. It can be used to refer to both men and women.
- A noun or adjective has identical masculine and feminine forms. For example, in FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, the noun enfant "child" and the adjective espiègle "mischievous" can be either masculine or feminine:
-
- un enfant espiègle "a mischievous male child"
- une enfant espiègle "a mischievous female child"
See also
- Gender-neutral language in EnglishGender-neutral language in EnglishGender neutrality in English is a form of linguistic prescriptivism that aims at using a form of English that minimizes assumptions about the gender or biological sex of people referred to in speech.-Rationale:...
- Gender-neutral pronounGender-neutral pronounA gender-neutral pronoun is a pronoun that is not associated with any gender. It designates two distinct grammatical phenomena, the first being pronouns/periphrastics that have been assigned nontraditional meanings in modern times out of a concern for gender equity, and the second being genderless...
- Generic antecedents
- Singular theySingular theySingular they is the use of they to refer to an entity that is not plural, or not necessarily plural. Though singular they is widespread in everyday English and has a long history of usage, debate continues about its acceptability...
- Unisex names
- MetrosexualMetrosexualMetrosexual is a neologism derived from metropolitan and heterosexual coined in 1994 describing a man who spends a lot of time and money on shopping for his appearance...
External links
- 'Epicene'. Dictionary.com.