homunculus

[huh-muhng-kyuh-luhs, hoh-]

noun

plural

homunculi 

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

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

3. a diminutive human being.

4. the human fetus.

homunculus

/ hɒˈmʌŋkjʊləs /

noun

1. a miniature man; midget

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

Other Word Forms

• homuncular adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of homunculus¹

1650–60; < Latin, equivalent to homun- (variant of homin-, stem of homō man; Homo ) + -culus -cule ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of homunculus¹

C17: from Latin, diminutive of homo man

Related Words

• gnome 
• goblin 
• gremlin 
• hobgoblin 
• troll