Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.
debutant, debutante (nn.)
The pronunciations reflect stages in the anglicization of a word originally French: Americans now say it either DEB-yoo-TAHNT or DEB-yoo-TANT, although the primary stress in each pronunciation may also fall instead on the first syllable. A debutant is technically a person of either sex making a debut, but almost no one applies that term to a man these days; a debutante is a female making a debut, either her introduction to society on her reaching a suitable age or her first appearance as a performer, but today the term has been labeled exclusive language, and that spelling is now generally being avoided. Indeed both nouns seem to be falling into disuse, in favor of the verb debut and the noun debut, and most uses of any of these today deal with performers, not with those entering society.
