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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  

combining form

1. being the same or like Compare hetero-

   homologous

   homosexual

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homo ² British  

/ ˈhəʊməʊ /

noun

1. informal short for 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

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

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

We mere homo sapiens are "welcome to observe" Moltbook's goings on, the company says, but we can't post anything.

From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2026

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

You also discuss how, even if Ricardo didn't articulate it this way, he was the origin of the concept of "homo economicus," or economic man.

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

Jonah pressed his pencil down too hard on the sapiens part of homo sapiens, and the lead snapped.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

The encounter took place before the most recent major movement of Homo sapiens out of Africa and into Europe and Asia.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026

That widespread distribution indicates that the interbreeding happened before Homo sapiens made their final major migration out of Africa and expanded around the planet.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026

These conditions gave birth to a new type of person, which the writer Alexander Zinoviev called Homo Sovieticus, or Homosos; the term sovok was also common.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

Meanwhile, modern Homo sapiens have existed for only 300,000 years, and what are the odds we make it even another millennium?

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

He filled in the meaningless words—Homo erectus, Homo habilis, Homo sapiens, Neanderthal—with great relief.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

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

The word homophone is not recognized by Johnson or by Richardson: Johnson under homo- has six derivatives of Herbert Spencer's favourite word homogeneous, but beside these only four other words with this Greek affix.

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