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War and Peace vocabulary
3 rare vocabulary words
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epicene
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notes:
{adj}
synonyms: androgynous ???
tags: [rare]
► definition
Definition:1. having equivocal sexual traits, viz. having both male and female characteristics or having neither; androgynous. Today's use implies "effeminate"2. [linguistics] a noun which is gender-ambiguous, such as "doctor" or "lawyer" (as opposed to gender-specific, such as "uncle" or "stewardess")
► uses
Uses:
Even such a minor survival as Nastásya Ivánovna, the epicene buffoon of the Rostóv household, points backward to the Middle Ages and to even earlier times.
Leo Tolstoy. War and Peace: With bonus material from Give War and Peace A Chance by Andrew D. Kaufman
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In the center of another knot stood a lout in a black leather jacket who was teaching judo holds, to the great delight of his epicene students.
John Kennedy Toole. A Confederacy of Dunces (1980)
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