homunculus
Americannoun
PLURAL
homunculi-
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.
noun
-
a miniature man; midget
-
(in early biological theory) a fully-formed miniature human being existing in a spermatozoon or egg
Other Word Forms
- homuncular adjective
Etymology
Origin of homunculus
1650–60; < Latin, equivalent to homun- (variant of homin-, stem of homō man; Homo ) + -culus -cule 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In my first neuroscience course at Columbia University, I learned about the homunculus.
From Scientific American
As Buzsáki points out, this entails something like a “homunculus,” a separate experiencer sitting in a mental theater and taking in what the brain “shows” it.
From Scientific American
This poorly understood and speculative entity goes by various names—free will, homunculus, decision maker, executive function, intervening variables or simply just a “black box.”
From Scientific American
In an article published in Brain in 1937 that first described the work that led to the development and refinement of the homunculus.
From Scientific American
Such experiments led to the famous homunculus: a map of which brain regions represent various body parts.
From Science Magazine
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
