hermaphrodite

From Hermaphroditus, the mythical son of Hermes and Aphrodite who merged bodies with a naiad and thereafter possessed both male and female qualities.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /hɝˈmæfɹədaɪt/

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hermaphrodite (plural hermaphrodites)

1. (dated, now offensive) A person possessing ambiguous sexual organs or characteristics. [from late 14th c.]
2. (biology) Cosexual: an organism possessing both types of gonads; a flower possessing both stamens and pistils.

   An earthworm is a hermaphrodite.

3. (biology) Dichogamous: an organism which begins its life as one sex and changes its sex over its life cycle.

   Comb jellies are sequential hermaphrodites.

4. A person or thing possessing two opposing qualities.
5. (nautical) A hermaphrodite brig.
6. A farm wagon convertible to multiple purposes.
7. (World War I military, historical) An armoured fighting vehicle having features of both male tanks and female tanks.

• Like many terms that start with a non-silent h but have emphasis on their second syllable, some people precede hermaphrodite with an, others with a.
• Intersex is now the preferred term for humans.[1] The term hermaphrodite when used for intersex people is considered a slur.[1][2][3]
• Compare androgyne and genderqueer.

• maphrodite, morphodite, mophrodite (slang)
• androgyne
• gynandromorph
• dichogamous
• cosexual
• intersex (noun)

hermaphrodite (not comparable)

1. (archaic, now offensive) Having ambiguous sexual organs or characteristics.
2. (biology) Having both ovaries and testes or both stamens and pistils.
3. Combining two opposing qualities.

• androgynous
• hermaphroditic
• intersex
• ambisexual

• berdache, two-spirit (two-spirits were formerly often called hermaphrodites)
• genderqueer

• ^{(mute h)} IPA^(key): /ɛʁ.ma.fʁɔ.dit/

• Audio

  (file)

hermaphrodite (plural hermaphrodites)

1. hermaphrodite

hermaphrodite m or f by sense (plural hermaphrodites)

1. hermaphrodite

• “hermaphrodite”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.