herm

American  

[hurm] / hɜrm /

noun

1. a monument consisting of a four-sided shaft tapering inward from top to bottom and bearing a head or bust; those of Hermes usually had an erect penis, which passersby stroked for luck.

---

herm British  

/ hɜːm, ˈhɜːmə /

noun

1. (in ancient Greece) a stone head of Hermes surmounting a square stone pillar

---

Etymology

Origin of herm

1570–80; < Latin hermēs < Greek hermês statue of Hermes

Example Sentences

The single square column features crouching figures in the capital who seem to be holding up the arch, a playful evocation of the classical figure of the caryatid or herm.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 21, 2026

One such find: a splendid 500 B.C. marble head from a herm, the ubiquitous pedestal monuments used in antiquity to guard building entrances.

From Time Magazine Archive

It seemed impossible to believe it, and yet the smile on herm curved mouth told him that it was true.

From The Lost Prince by Burnett, Frances Hodgson

Alcamenes, the rival or pupil of Pheidias, was the sculptor of a herm at Athens, a copy of which, dating from Roman times, was discovered at Pergamum in 1903.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3 "Helmont, Jean" to "Hernosand" by Various

In the present tale our young herm are taken at first back to dear old Putnam Hall, and then to the heart of the great mining district of Colorado.

From The Rover Boys out West Or, The Search for a Lost Mine by Stratemeyer, Edward