homunculus

homunculus
1. An exceedingly minute body which, according to the views of development held by some medical scientists of the 16th and 17th centuries, was contained in a sex cell. From this preformed but infinitely small structure the human body was thought to be developed. SEE ALSO: preformation theory, animalcule. 2. The figure of a human sometimes superimposed on pictures of the surface of the brain to represent the motor or sensory regions of the body represented there. [L. dim. of homo, man]

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ho·mun·cu·lus hō-'məŋ-kyə-ləs n, pl -li -.lī, -.lē a miniature adult that in the theory of preformation was held to inhabit the germ cell and to produce a mature individual merely by an increase in size

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n.
1. (manikin) a dwarf with no deformity or abnormality other than small size.
2. (manikin) a small jointed anatomical model of a man.
3. (in early biological theory) a miniature human being thought to be contained within each of the reproductive cells.

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ho·mun·cu·lus (ho-munkґu-ləs) [L. “little man”] a grotesque drawing or model of a human figure that maps the motor and sensory regions of the body to the motor and primary somatosensory areas of the cerebral cortex; the representation of each body part is proportionate in size to its distribution in the cortex.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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  • Homunculus — des niederländischen Wissenschaftlers Nicolas Hartsoeker Homunculus (männlich, lateinisch „Menschlein“) bezeichnet einen künstlich geschaffenen Menschen. Die Idee des Homunculus wurde im Spätmittelalter im Kontext alchemistischer Theorien… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • homunculus — HOMÚNCULUS, homunculuşi, s.m. Omuleţ artificial pe care alchimiştii pretindeau că au reuşit să l fabrice; p. ext. om foarte mic de statură, nedezvoltat, pipernicit. – Din lat. homunculus, fr. homuncule. Trimis de gall, 13.09.2007. Sursa: DEX 98  …   Dicționar Român

  • homunculus — 1650s, from L. homunculus, lit. little person, from homo (gen. hominis) man, human being, the Latin word that means man, person, a human being (technically male human, but in logical and scholastic writing human being ), also the human race,… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Homunculus —    Serial fantastique d Otto Rippert, avec Olaf Fönss, Ernst Ludwig, Albert Paul, Lore Rückert, Max Ruhbeck, Lia Borre.   Pays: Allemagne   Date de sortie: 1916   Technique: noir et blanc   Durée: en six épisodes    Résumé    Un monstre de… …   Dictionnaire mondial des Films

  • Homunculus — Ho*mun cu*lus, n.; pl. {Homunculi}. [L., dim. of homo man.] A little man; a dwarf; a manikin. Sterne. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Homuncŭlus — (Homuncio, lat.), Menschlein; kleiner, elender Mensch; in Goethes »Faust« ein durch chemischen Prozeß erzeugter Mensch, nach der Schrift des Paracelsus: »De generatione rerum naturalium«, worin eine ausführliche Anleitung zur chemischen Erzeugung …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Homunculus — Homuncŭlus (lat.), Menschlein; kleiner elender Mensch; in Goethes »Faust« ein durch chem. Prozeß erzeugter Mensch, nach Anleitung in Paracelsus Schrift: »De generatione rerum naturalium« …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • homunculus — manikin, midget, *dwarf, pygmy, runt …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • homunculus — [hō muŋ′kyo͞o ləs] n. pl. homunculi [hō muŋ′kyoolī΄] [L, dim. of homo, man: see HOMO1] a little man; dwarf; manikin …   English World dictionary

  • Homunculus — The concept of a homunculus (Latin for little man , plural homunculi ; the diminutive of homo , man ) is often used to illustrate the functioning of a system. In the scientific sense of an unknowable prime actor, it can be viewed as an entity or… …   Wikipedia

  • Homunculus —   Homunculus Rango temporal: Mioceno Inferior …   Wikipedia Español

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