50 Examples of Epicene Nouns
Miscellanea / / July 04, 2021
Epicene Nouns
A epicene noun is that noun that can be male or female and serves to designate both sexes, regardless of the grammatical gender of the noun. For example: sea, brood, your honor.
Difference from the common name
It is called "common name" to the nouns that allow the article to be changed depending on whether the sentence refers to a person or thing in masculine or feminine. These nouns remain unchanged no matter what gender they are referring to. For example: the baby / the baby, the student / the student, the model / the model, the young person / the young person, the policeman / the police, the witness / the witness.
Epicene nouns, on the other hand, do not allow this variation in the article. For example: the word owl is written with the article the (the owl and no the owl).
Epicene nouns often need the clarification of another word to understand whether it is a feminine or masculine word. For example: male partridge / female partridge.
Examples of epicene nouns
- The Eagle. The male eagle was flying over the mountains
- The owl. The female owl is always larger than the male.
- The gorilla. The female gorilla cared for her young relentlessly.
- Character. The character was starred by the famous Mexican actress.
- The rhinoceros. The gray rhino is more aggressive than the white. In this example we cannot determine if it is a male or a female, although given the context of the word it refers to the term rhinoceros as a species.
- The stem. New and beautiful shoots emerged from the plant.
- The agent. The business agent signed the contract.
- The lover. The woman's lover was discovered.
- The artist. The plastic artist "José Vázquez" was invited to the gala event.
- The attacker. The attacker was a 45-year-old woman who was intoxicated.
- The athlete. The Russian athlete, a 25-year-old man, won the Olympics with a gold medal.
- The ostrich. The ostrich is a bird that lays 60 eggs per year.
- Assistant. The kitchen assistant, named Luciana, broke his arm last Friday.
- The chancellor. Foreign Minister Horacio Ramírez gave a press conference yesterday afternoon.
- Captain. Captain Lorenzo indicated that the plane should make a forced landing.
- The driver. The driver of the limousine is named Carlos Alberto.
- The crocodile. The swamp crocodile is a female.
- The hummingbird. The hummingbird flies fast.
- The trader. The merchant Raúl, from the corner store, was happy about the increase in his sales.
- The accomplice. The thug was arrested along with his accomplice. Her name was Ángeles Rodríguez, a well-known criminal with a long history as a professional bank robber.
- The janitor. The janitor and his wife went on vacation last Monday.
- The husband. Her spouse and husband renewed their vows last month.
- The colonel. Juan was dressed as a colonel, while his wife dressed as a mermaid for the costume party.
- The dolphin. The male dolphin was with a female dolphin.
- The dentist. The dentist, Laura Amado, has 25 years of experience in this profession.
- The drawer. The conceptual artist is called Marcelo.
- The finalist. The finalist for the round is Aurora, the music teacher.
- The governor. The ruler of that region, they did not enter into reasons. That is why they had to dialogue with his wife.
- The hippo. The hippo is not a friendly animal. Neither does the female.
- The Lynx. The lynx was the target of this season. In this case it also refers to the lynx as a species.
- The sea. I will spend the next vacation sailing the Mediterranean Sea.
- The world. The world is round.
- The whale. The white whale travels 2500 km to mate.
- Breeding. The bitch's offspring turned out to be 3 males and 3 females.
- Person. The person who called the police was Rodrigo Fuentes.
- The burrow. The den is full of rats.
- The victim. The victim was a white male approximately 75 years old.
- The spider. The chick spider has a deadly poison.
- The Iguana. The iguana is green.
- The orca. The killer whale is not a killer. Here they also refer (according to the sentence) to the species.
- The Panther. The cartoon panther is pink, but there is no such color animal in nature. Here they also refer (according to the sentence) to the species
- Partridge. Partridge eggs are considered an exotic food in certain countries.
- The lordship. His honor, Judge Talabarez, indicated the sentence this morning.
- The wasp. The queen wasp must always be a female.