homunculus (redirected from homuncular)

ho·mun·cu·lus (h-mngky-ls, h-)

n. pl. ho·mun·cu·li (-l)

1. A diminutive human.

2. A miniature, fully formed individual which adherents of the early biological theory of preformation believed to be present in the sperm cell.

---

homunculus

[hōmung′kyələs] pl. homunculi

Etymology: L, little man

1 a dwarf in whom all the body parts are proportionally developed and in which there is no deformity or abnormality.

2 (in early embryologic theories of development, primarily preformation) a minute and complete human being contained in each of the germ cells that after fertilization grows from the microscopic to normal size.

3 a small anatomic model of the human form; a manikin, specifically, one believed to have been produced by an alchemist and placed into a flask.

4 (in psychiatry) a little man created by the imagination who possesses magical powers.