homunculus
UK /hɒˈmʌŋk.jʊ.ləs/ · US /həˈmʌŋk.jə.ləs/ noun
Forms homunculi homunculuses homonculus
- noun (alchemy, science fiction) A small, artificially created human or human-like being.
- noun (by extension) A small human.
- noun A miniature adult, once imagined by spermists to be present in human sperm.
- noun The nerve map of the human body that exists on the parietal lobe of the human brain.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin homunculus, from homō (“man”) + -culus (diminutive suffix).
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [L., dim. of homo man.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “homunculus”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details