hermaphrodite

American  

[hur-maf-ruh-dahyt] / hɜrˈmæf rəˌdaɪt /

noun

• hermaphrodites
  plural

1. Biology. an organism, such as an earthworm or plant, having both male and female reproductive organs at the same time or throughout the lifespan.

2. Older Use: Offensive.

   1. a person who has both testicular and ovarian tissue.

   2. any intersex person.

3. something in which two opposite qualities are combined.

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adjective

1. Biology. of, relating to, or characteristic of an organism having both male and female reproductive organs.

2. Botany. monoclinous.

3. combining two opposite qualities.

hermaphrodite British  

/ hɜːˈmæfrəˌdaɪt /

noun

1. biology an individual animal or flower that has both male and female reproductive organs

2. a person having both male and female sexual characteristics and genital tissues

3. a person or thing in which two opposite forces or qualities are combined

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adjective

1. having the characteristics of a hermaphrodite

hermaphrodite Scientific  

/ hər-măf′rə-dīt′ /

1. An organism, such as an earthworm or flowering plant, having both male and female reproductive organs in a single individual.

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Sensitivity

The term hermaphrodite was once commonly used in medical and informal contexts to refer to people, but this use is now dated and considered offensive except when used in self-reference. Intersex has become the preferred term. It can refer to any person with reproductive organs, genitals, hormones, or chromosomal patterns that do not fall under typical definitions of male and female. The term is also sometimes used to describe something that combines two opposing qualities; this may be offensive when applied to people. See also intersex ( def. ).

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hermaphrodism
  noun
• hermaphroditism
  noun
• hermaphroditic
  adjective
• hermaphroditical
  adjective
• hermaphroditically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• hermaphrodites
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of hermaphrodite

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English hermofrodite, from Latin hermaphrodītus, from Greek hermaphródītos, originally the proper name of the son of Hermes and Aphrodite, Hermaphródītos, whose body became joined with that of the nymph Salmacis

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Explanation

A hermaphrodite is a person (or plant or animal) that has both male and female sexual organs. Hermaphrodites are rare. This is an unusual word for an unusual condition: being a boy and a girl at the same time. This happens to a small number of people who have the reproductive organs of both men and women. In appearance, a hermaphrodite might look more girlish or boyish, but they're kind of both. This word also applies to animals and plants, which can have both male and female equipment, too.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hermaphrodite hermaphrodites

This is because papayas can produce either male flowers, female flowers or hermaphrodite flowers that have characteristics of both.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 14, 2024

The term "hermaphrodite" is a term in the animal kingdom that you learn about when you're in biology class.

From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2023

Surprising in a novel first published in 1920, several characters in “A Voyage to Arcturus” are androgynous or hermaphrodite.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 16, 2021

Scientists call it protandrous — that is, a male-first hermaphrodite — a phenomenon also seen in certain worms, limpets and butterflies.

From New York Times ● Jun. 29, 2015

When this story goes out into the world, I may become the most famous hermaphrodite in history.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

Among a handful of species exist hermaphrodites capable of self-fertilization.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 14, 2024

I remember learning about hermaphrodites in animals in junior high school.

From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2023

All Bipalium species are hermaphrodites, and so they're also flexible in how they make babies.

From National Geographic ● Jul. 15, 2017

Many are also hermaphrodites; they produce both eggs and sperm, which they release once a year, in the summertime after a full moon.

From The New Yorker ● Apr. 18, 2016

Like most hermaphrodites but by no means all, I can’t have children.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

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