: a miniature adult that in the theory of preformation is held to inhabit the germ cell and to produce a mature individual merely by an increase in size
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebUntil that happens, the textbook homunculus—and the missing details for a hermunculus—will likely remain unchanged. Dana G. Smith, Scientific American, 17 Mar. 2022 Short of a magical homunculus watching the activities of all the neurons in the brain with the omniscience of the experimenter, the neurons that take this all in are unaware of the events that caused these changes in their firing patterns. György Buzsáki, Scientific American, 14 May 2022 In an article published in Brain in 1937 that first described the work that led to the development and refinement of the homunculus. Dana G. Smith, Scientific American, 17 Mar. 2022 Penfield’s original homunculus did not include the vulva or breasts, and out of the more than 400 people involved, only nine of them were women. Dana G. Smith, Scientific American, 17 Mar. 2022 That’s a twist so preposterous it’s high camp, since the guy who isn’t the killer is a homunculus who looks like Danny DeVito in a hospital gown. Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 8 Sep. 2021 Maxwell posited a tiny homunculus that could cordon off hotter, faster molecules from colder, slower ones.Washington Post, 24 Dec. 2020 And along comes Robert Frank, the hairy homunculus, the European Jew with his 35-mm. Philip Gefter, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2019 The book culminates with Christian’s involvement in complex laboratory preparations, including the creation of a bird that is then killed; its ashes are used to make two homunculi, which, in the laboratory, grow to become the bridal couple. Peter Bebergal, The New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2016 See More
Word History
Etymology
Latin, diminutive of homin-, homo human being — more at homage