homunculus

• Nom désignant un très petit être humain, souvent utilisé dans un contexte historique ou scientifique pour décrire un homme miniature ou un individu minuscule et entièrement formé, que l'on croyait autrefois présent dans le spermatozoïde.

A noun referring to a very small human being, often used in historical or scientific contexts to describe a miniature person or a tiny, fully formed individual once theorized to exist in a sperm cell.

pluriel irrégulier

1. Very small personC1formal

   A human being of extremely small stature, but without any other physical deformities or abnormalities.

   Très petite personne

   • The circus featured a homunculus who was no taller than a child.
   • In the story, a homunculus lived in a tiny house built just for him.
   • The term homunculus is sometimes used to describe a very small but otherwise normal person.

   Synonymesdwarflilliputianmanikinmidget

   Antonymesgiant

2. Preformation theory entityC2formal

   A tiny, fully formed human believed, according to the now-discredited theory of preformation, to exist inside a sperm cell.

   homuncule (théorie de la préformation)

   • The preformation theory suggested that a homunculus was contained within the sperm.
   • Scientists later disproved the existence of the homunculus in reproductive biology.
   • The concept of the homunculus was a key part of early embryological thought.