androgynous

English

Alternative forms

• androgenous (misspelling; a separate term)

Etymology

From Latin androgynus (“man-woman, hermaphrodite”), from Ancient Greek ἀνδρόγῠνος (andrógunos), from ἀνήρ (anḗr, “man”) +‎ γῠνή (gunḗ, “woman”) +‎ -ος (-os, “-ous”, adjectival suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ænˈdɹɒd͡ʒ.ɪn.əs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ænˈdɹɑd͡ʒ.ən.əs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒdʒɪnəs

Adjective

androgynous (comparative more androgynous, superlative most androgynous)

1. Possessing the sex organs of both sexes. [from the earlier 17th c.]
2. Pertaining to a feature or characteristic that is not definitively of either sex.

   Nicknames like Pat, Sam, and Chris are androgynous, used by both men and women.

   • 1982, Slava Tsukerman, Anne Carlisle, Nina V. Kerova, Liquid Sky, spoken by Margaret (Anne Carlisle):

     And I was taught that to be an actress, one should be fashionable, and to be fashionable is to be androgynous. And I am androgynous not less than David Bowie himself.

   • 1993, Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower, HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP (2019), page 199:

     My name is androgynous, in pronunciation at least – Lauren sounds like the more masculine Loren.

3. Possessing qualities of both sexes.
   • 1832 September 1, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Great Minds Androgynous—Philosopher’s Ordinary Language”, in H[enry] N[elson] C[oleridge], editor, Specimens of the Table Talk of the Late Samuel Taylor Coleridge. […], volume II, London: John Murray, […], published 1835, →OCLC, page 96:

     The truth is, a great mind must be androgynous.

4. (of a connector or docking port) Able to connect to another connector or port of the same type, rather than being restricted to connecting to solely male or solely female connectors or ports.

   APAS is an androgynous docking system, so – in principle, at least – any APAS-equipped vehicle should be able to hook up with any other, without having to worry about matching male with female ports.

Synonyms

• epicene, unisex; hermaphrodite (sometimes proscribed)

Derived terms

• androgynously
• androgynousness
• nonandrogynous
• polyandrogynous

 

Related terms

• androgyne
• androgyny
• androgynoplasty

Translations

having sex organs of both genders — see hermaphroditic

pertaining to a characteristic that is not definitively of either sex

• Asturian: andróxinu
• Catalan: androgin (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不男不女 (bùnánbùnǚ)

• Finnish: androgyyninen (fi); sukupuolineutraali (fi)
• French: asexué (fr), androgyne (fr)
• Galician: andróxino
• German: geschlechtsneutral (de), androgyn (de)
• Greek: ανδρόγυνος (el) m (andrógynos)
• Hungarian: uniszex (hu)
• Irish: andraigíneach
• Japanese: 中性的 (ちゅうせいてき, chuuseiteki)
• Portuguese: andrógino (pt)
• Romanian: androgin (ro)
• Spanish: andrógino (es)
• Welsh: androgynaidd

possessing qualities of both sexes

• Danish: androgyn (da)
• Dutch: tweeslachtig (nl), androgyn (nl), hermafrodiet (nl)
• Finnish: androgyyninen (fi)
• French: androgyne (fr) m or f, hermaphrodite (fr)
• German: androgyn (de)
• Hungarian: hímnős (hu), androgün (hu)
• Indonesian: jantina (id)
• Japanese: 両性具有 (りょうせいぐゆう, ryōsei guyū)
• Kazakh: қос жынысты (qos jynysty)
• Polish: androgyniczny (pl) m, androginiczny m
• Portuguese: andrógino (pt) m
• Romanian: androgin (ro)
• Russian: двупо́лый (ru) (dvupólyj)
• Spanish: andrógino (es)
• Welsh: androgynaidd

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} хермафродитен (hermafroditen)
• Estonian: ^{(please verify)} androgüünne
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} androgino (it)
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} çift cinsiyetli

See also

• genderqueer
• gender bender
• hermaphroditic
• intersex
• monogendered
• shehe