different between androgynous vs ambisexual

English

Etymology

From Latin androgynus (“man-woman, hermaphrodite”), from Ancient Greek ?????????? (andrógunos), from ???? (an?r, “man”) +? ???? (gun?, “woman”) +? -?? (-os, “-ous”, adjectival suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /æn?d??d??.?n.?s/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /æn?d??d??.?n.?s/
• Rhymes: -?d??n?s

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.

3. Possessing qualities of both sexes.
   • September 1, 1832, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Table-Talk

     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.

Synonyms

• epicene; hermaphrodite (sometimes proscribed)

Related terms

• androgyne
• androgyny

Translations

See also

• genderqueer
• gender bender
• hermaphroditic
• intersex
• shehe

English

Etymology

ambi- +? -sexual; in modern senses relating to human sexuality, influenced by bisexual.

Pronunciation

Adjective

ambisexual (comparative more ambisexual, superlative most ambisexual)

1. (zoology) Hermaphroditic.
   • 2012, U. Müller, ?W. Franke, Mechanisms of Gonadal Differentiation in Vertebrates (page 84)

     However, the question must be asked: at which stage in the life-history of an ambisexual (hermaphroditic) fish does sex differentiation take place?

2. Bisexual: attracted to persons of either sex.
3. Unisex: fit for persons of either sex.
4. (slang) Of ambiguous sexual orientation.

Derived terms

• ambisexuality
• ambisexually

Noun

ambisexual (plural ambisexuals)

1. An ambisexual person.

See also

• ambiguous
• bisexual
• metrosexual
• androgynous