homunculus
4
9.9
- noun
- /həˈmʌŋkjələs/
- Literature
:
homúnculo
- Scientists often refer to the detailed representation of the human body in the brain as a homunculus, illustrating how different body parts are represented in our neural pathways.
Examples
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The Paracelsian homunculus legend, too, took on the form of a demonic servant in the seventeenth century.
Academic text (2001) -
Oddly enough, both dreams fixate on the figure of the child as a small homunculus, as something created out of nothing in one sense, artificially, according to the alchemic tradition.
Academic text (2002) -
Would you like a homunculus of your own?
Fiction book (1994) -
The scene with the smoke coming from the homunculus.
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The raising of the homunculus.
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Do something, you puny homunculus.
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And sure, you've seen this picture of the homunculus laid over the surface of the brain, the weird little guy with huge lips and giant hands.
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And towering over them, Doctor Paracelsus was said to be combining urine, blood, and semen in his alchemist's retorts to produce a homunculus (little man), an embryo-like figure whose purpose was slightly unclear.
Academic text (2001) -
In some old scientific theories, a homunculus is described as a tiny, fully formed human being.
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The story featured a mischievous homunculus who aided the wizard in his magical tasks.
Synonyms
75
5.9
A very short adult often because of a medical condition called dwarfism
5
1.8
A person who is shorter than most people and has a light build
1
8.5
A person who is much smaller than most people
A very small person who looks normal
How Small
Surface Forms
Morphology
homunculus = homo + unculus
Although historically analyzable as Latin homo (man) + a diminutive -unculus, these Latin combining forms are not productive or recognizable to an average B1 learner, so the meaning is not derivable from visible parts.
Etymology
Homunculus comes from the Latin homo 'man' with a small ending -culus that means 'little', and it is the same root as human, so it literally means 'little man'. Long ago it was used for tiny people in stories and old science, so today a homunculus means a very small or miniature human.