American Dictionary of the English Language

Dictionary Search

Androgynous


ANDROG'YNOUS, adjective [Gr. a man and woman.]

Having two sexes; being male and female; hermaphroditical.

In botany, the word is applied to plants which bear both male and female flowers from the same root, as birch, walnut, oak, chestnut, mulberry, etc. These plants constitute the monecian class in Linne's system, and frequently have an amentum, thong or catkin, for a calyx.