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androgynous - 6 dictionary results

an⋅drog⋅y⋅nous

  [an-droj-uh-nuhs]
Use androgynous in a Sentence
–adjective
1. being both male and female; hermaphroditic.
2. having both masculine and feminine characteristics.
3. having an ambiguous sexual identity.
4. neither clearly masculine nor clearly feminine in appearance: the androgynous look of many rock stars.
5. Botany. having staminate and pistillate flowers in the same inflorescence.
Origin:
1620–30; androgyne + -ous

Related forms:
an⋅drog⋅y⋅ny, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To androgynous
an·drog·y·nous   (ān-drŏj'ə-nəs)   
adj.  
  1. Biology Having both female and male characteristics; hermaphroditic.
  2. Being neither distinguishably masculine nor feminine, as in dress, appearance, or behavior.

[From Latin androgynus, hermaphrodite, from Greek androgunos : andro-, andro- + gunē, woman; see -gynous.]
an·drog'y·nous·ly adv., an·drog'y·ny (-ə-nē) n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Androgynous

An*drog"y*nous\, Androgynal \An*drog"y*nal\, a. [L. androgynus, Gr. ?; 'anh`r, 'andro`s, man + gynh` woman: cf. F. androgyne.]

1. Uniting both sexes in one, or having the characteristics of both; being in nature both male and female; hermaphroditic. --Owen.

The truth is, a great mind must be androgynous. --Coleridge.

2. (Bot.) Bearing both staminiferous and pistilliferous flowers in the same cluster.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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androgynous 
1628, from L. androgynus, from Gk. androgynos, "male and female in one," from andros gen. of aner "male" + gyne "woman" (see queen). Androgyne is attested from 1552.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: an·drog·y·nous
Pronunciation: an-'dräj-&-n&s
Function: adjective
: having the characteristics or nature of bothmale and female —an·drog·y·ny /-nE/ noun plural -nies
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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androgynous   (ān-drŏj'ə-nəs)  Pronunciation Key 
Having both female and male characteristics.

androgyny noun (ān-drŏj'ə-nē)
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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