homunculus

[ huh-muhng-kyuh-luh s, hoh- ]

/ həˈmʌŋ kyə ləs, hoʊ- /

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noun, plural ho·mun·cu·li [huh-muhng-kyuh-lahy, hoh-] /həˈmʌŋ kyəˌlaɪ, hoʊ-/.

an artificially made dwarf, supposedly produced in a flask by an alchemist.

a fully formed, miniature human body believed, according to some medical theories of the 16th and 17th centuries, to be contained in the spermatozoon.

a diminutive human being.

the human fetus.

Nearby words

homozygosity, homozygote, homozygous, homozygous by descent, homs, homunculus, homy, homyel', hon, hon., hon. sec.

Origin of homunculus

1650–60; < Latin, equivalent to homun- (variant of homin-, stem of homō man; see Homo) + -culus -cule¹

Related forms

ho·mun·cu·lar, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for homunculus

You men of the nineteenth century know only by reputation of our attempts to produce an homunculus, and a perpetuum mobile naturæ.
The Magic of the Middle Ages|Viktor Rydberg
It is often asked, and I think we may fairly ask, what Goethe meant to symbolize by his Homunculus.
The Faust-Legend and Goethe's 'Faust'|H. B. Cotterill
The homunculus offered me his last book, with his last smile.
The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard|Anatole France
If the homunculus who wrote this be still above ground, how devoutly must he hope he may be able to keep in the background!
A Budget of Paradoxes, Volume I (of II)|Augustus De Morgan

Evidently there is plenty of work here for Goethe's Homunculus, who had to find out "why husband and wife get on so badly."
Collected Papers on Analytical Psychology|C. G. Jung

British Dictionary definitions for homunculus

homunculus

/ (hɒˈmʌŋkjʊləs) /

noun plural -li (-ˌlaɪ)

a miniature man; midget

(in early biological theory) a fully-formed miniature human being existing in a spermatozoon or egg

Former name: homuncule (həʊˈmʌŋkjuːl)

Derived Forms

homuncular, adjective

Word Origin for homunculus

C17: from Latin, diminutive of homo man

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medicine definitions for homunculus

homunculus

[ hō-mŭng′kyə-ləs, hə- ]

n. pl. ho•mun•cu•li (-lī′)

A diminutive human.

A miniature, fully formed individual which adherents of the early biological theory of preformation believed to be present in the sperm cell.