hermaphrodite
hermaphrodite Lexical Profile
hermaphrodite Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An animal or plant that naturally possesses both male and female reproductive organs during its life cycle, such as an earthworm, land snail, or perfect flower.
"Earthworms are simultaneous hermaphrodites, meaning each individual possesses both functional testes and ovaries."
A person born with reproductive anatomy or sexual characteristics that do not fit typical binary definitions of male or female (now outdated and considered offensive).
"Modern medical and advocacy organizations have replaced the historical term hermaphrodite with intersex when referring to human anatomy."
Something that combines two opposite or complementary qualities, functions, or styles, such as a sailing vessel square-rigged forward and schooner-rigged aft.
"The nineteenth-century brigantine was often called a hermaphrodite brig because it combined two distinct types of rigging on a single hull."
• adjective
Having both male and female reproductive organs, structures, or characteristics.
"Many garden flowers have hermaphrodite blossoms that contain both pollen-producing stamens and ovule-bearing carpels."
Word Nuance & Usage
While standard in zoology and botany to describe organisms that naturally possess both male and female reproductive organs, applying 'hermaphrodite' to humans is outdated, scientifically inaccurate, and widely considered offensive; 'intersex' is the appropriate modern term.
• Rhymes for hermaphrodite
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed via Latin from Ancient Greek 'Hermaphroditos', the mythological son of Hermes and Aphrodite who fused into a single body with the nymph Salmacis.