Hermaphrodite

//hɝˈmæfɹədaɪt// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A person possessing ambiguous sexual organs or characteristics. dated, offensive
  2. 2
    one having both male and female sexual characteristics and organs; at birth an unambiguous assignment of male or female cannot be made wordnet
  3. 3
    Cosexual: an organism possessing both types of gonads; a flower possessing both stamens and pistils.

    "An earthworm is a hermaphrodite."

  4. 4
    Dichogamous: an organism which begins its life as one sex and changes its sex over its life cycle.

    "Comb jellies are sequential hermaphrodites."

  5. 5
    A person or thing possessing two opposing qualities.
Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    A hermaphrodite brig.
  2. 7
    A farm wagon convertible to multiple purposes.
  3. 8
    An armoured fighting vehicle having features of both male tanks and female tanks. World-War-I, historical
Adjective
  1. 1
    Having ambiguous sexual organs or characteristics. dated, not-comparable, offensive
  2. 2
    Having both ovaries and testes or both stamens and pistils. not-comparable
  3. 3
    Combining two opposing qualities. not-comparable
Adjective
  1. 1
    of animal or plant; having both male female reproductive organs wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
androgynegynandromorphintersexhermaphroditicambisexualandrogyne

Example

More examples

"An earthworm is a hermaphrodite."

Etymology

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

Related phrases

false hermaphroditehermaphrodite brig

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.