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/

• Audio (Southern England)

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hermaphrodite (plural hermaphrodites)

1. An individual possessing ambiguous sexual organs or characteristics. [from late 14th c.]
2. (biology) An organism possessing both types of gonads; a flower possessing both stamens and pistils.

   An earthworm is a hermaphrodite.

3. A person or thing possessing two opposing qualities.
4. (nautical) A hermaphrodite brig.
5. A farm wagon convertible to multiple purposes.
6. (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 or ambisexual is now the preferred term for human description in medical contexts.
• Compare androgyne and genderqueer.

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

hermaphrodite (not comparable)

1. 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.