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• homo
  homo

  noun

  a contemptuous term used to refer to a gay person, especially a gay man.
• Homo
  Homo

  noun

  the genus of bipedal primates that includes modern humans and several extinct forms, distinguished by their large brains and a dependence upon tools.
• homo-
  homo-

  a combining form appearing in loanwords from Greek, where it meant “same” (homology ); on this model, used in the formation of compound words (homomorphic ).
• homo–
  homo–

  A prefix meaning “same,” as in homogamous, having the same kind of flower.

homo

¹ American  

[hoh-moh] / ˈhoʊ moʊ /

noun

Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive.

• homos
  plural

1. a contemptuous term used to refer to a gay person, especially a gay man.

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Homo ² American  

[hoh-moh] / ˈhoʊ moʊ /

noun

1. the genus of bipedal primates that includes modern humans and several extinct forms, distinguished by their large brains and a dependence upon tools.

2. Facetious. (used in made-up taxonomic expressions to denote a type of human being).

   The door opens, and in walks Homo stupidus.

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homo- ³ American  

1. a combining form appearing in loanwords from Greek, where it meant “same” (homology ); on this model, used in the formation of compound words (homomorphic ).

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homo ¹ British  

/ ˈhəʊməʊ /

noun

1. informal short for homosexual

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homo- ² British  

combining form

1. being the same or like Compare hetero-

   homologous

   homosexual

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homo ³ British  

/ ˈhəʊməʊ /

noun

1. informal homogenized milk

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Homo ⁴ British  

/ ˈhəʊməʊ /

noun

1. a genus of hominids including modern man (see Homo sapiens ) and several extinct species of primitive man, including Homo habilis and Homo erectus

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homo– Scientific  

1. A prefix meaning “same,” as in homogamous, having the same kind of flower.

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Homo Cultural  

1. The genus to which human beings belong. The genus Homo includes Neanderthals and other hominids closely related to today's humans, such as Homo erectus.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• homos
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of homo¹

First recorded in 1920–25; by shortening of homosexual ( def. )

Origin of Homo²

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin homō “man, human,” literally “the earthly one,” derivative of humus “earth, ground, soil”; related to Latin hūmānus “pertaining to man, human”; akin to Old English guma, Old Irish duine, Welsh dyn, Old Lithuanian žmuõ “human being”; see humus, human

Origin of homo-³

< Greek, combining form of homós one and the same; akin to Sanskrit sama-; see same

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Explanation

The genus that includes modern humans is called Homo. "Homo sapiens" are modern humans. Our ancestors had names like "Homo neanderthalensis" and "Homo erectus." Homo is a Latin word that means man, or human. When it is used as a prefix, as in "homosexual," it comes from the Greek word homos, meaning the same. It is from the word "homosexual" that the noun homo is shortened and takes its second meaning — a derogatory term for a homosexual or gay man. Its use is offensive, and you should use other terms instead. It is spelled with a lowercase h in this use.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

homo Homo homo- homos

But their construction, and ingenuity, has one wondering about the intelligence and fortitude of these homo sapiens who lived as many as 9,000 years ago.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025

But it seems to me a nice way of telling the story of how crazy this "homo economicus" idea is.

From Salon ● Feb. 1, 2025

Musk is convinced of this, in part, because he fears artificial intelligence will very soon become all-powerful and inclined to exterminate homo sapiens.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 28, 2024

The script’s ridiculous rationale — which our hero repeatedly intones like he’s hypnotizing us to believe it — is that certain beekeepers have pledged to prevent colony collapse, both apoidea and homo sapien.

From New York Times ● Jan. 10, 2024

One is dbghem, meaning earth; this became guman in Germanic, gumen in Old English, then homo and humanus in Latin, from which we have both “human” and “humus.”

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

One of the biggest puzzles surrounding Homo naledi involves the remarkably similar appearance of adult fossils recovered from the cave's Dinaledi Chamber.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 11, 2026

Another human lineage, Homo luzonensis, occupied the Philippines.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026

Neanderthals, Homo erectus, and other ancient relatives were evolutionary dead ends – unfortunate cousins who left no descendants.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026

They lived across a large expanse of Europe and western and central Asia, and sometimes overlapped with our species, Homo sapiens.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

Wheat did it by manipulating Homo sapiens to its advantage.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

They replace explicit references to homo- and heterosexuality—which would indicate disparate treatment—with the catch-all terms sexual orientation and gender identity.

From Slate ● Jan. 27, 2022

It is one in which the conventions of both homo- and heteronormative expression are called into question daily.

From New York Times ● Sep. 18, 2018

“Your homo- or heterosexuality is neither a virtue nor a flaw. It just isn’t. Who you want to have sex with is not something you cultivate.”

From The Guardian ● Apr. 29, 2017

Another key structural problem is to understand how GPCRs associate to form homo- or hetero-oligomers.

From Nature ● Feb. 13, 2013

Its 114 homo- words will show how this huge number is partly supplied.

From Society for Pure English, Tract 02 On English Homophones by Robert Seymour Bridges

But the epochal battle between homos neanderthalensis and sapiens takes the most English form imaginable: a football match.

From Slate ● Feb. 14, 2018

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