Dictionary

homunculus en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /həˈmʌŋk.jə.ləs/ (US)
• /hɒˈmʌŋk.jʊ.ləs/ (UK)
• /hoʊˈmʌŋk.jə.ləs/ (US)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin homunculus, from homō (“man”) + -culus (diminutive suffix).

Meanings

1. A small, artificially created human or human-like being.
2. (broadly) A small human.
3. A miniature adult, once imagined by spermists to be present in human sperm.
   • “It’s this snaggletoothed, little bird-footed homunculus caricature,” Bourneuf said. “Many artists at this time were trying to make new altarpieces. Klee tended to take a very skeptical distance from the sort of grandiose projects of many of his expressionist peers, so I think it’s actually kind of mocking those hopes.” 2025 May 7, Nina Siegal, “A Rarely Seen Angel With a Lesson From History”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 08 May 2025:
   • Ser Perth stayed near him most of the time now. The man was obviously worried, but tried not to show it. "We've managed to get some testosterone from a blond homunculus," he reported. "That should put you on your feet in no time. Don't worry, young man we'll keep you vivified somehow until the Sign changes." But he didn't sound convincing. 1963, Lester del Rey, The Sky Is Falling:
4. The nerve map of the human body that exists on the parietal lobe of the human brain.

Forms

Deriveds

homunculus argument · cortical homunculus · homuncular

Relateds

homunculine · manikin · homo

Translations (13)

ca homuncle (little man) · la homunculus (little man) · pl homonkulus (little man) · ja ホムンクルス (little man) · pt homúnculo (little man) · it omuncolo (little man) · ru гому́нкул (little man) · nl ventje (little man) · fr homoncule (little man) · es homúnculo (little man) · de Homunkulus (little man) · ru гому́нкулус (little man) · el ανθρωπάριο (little man)