What does "hermaphroditism" mean?

The condition of an organism that is able to reproduce as both male and female, either simultaneously (simultaneous hermaphroditism or cosexuality) or sequentially (sequential hermaphroditism or dichogamy).

Hermaphroditism

Q: What is a synonym for "hermaphroditism"?

Common synonyms include: hermaphrodism, androgyny, androgyny, bisexuality, cosexual, dichogamous.

noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
The condition of an organism that is able to reproduce as both male and female, either simultaneously (simultaneous hermaphroditism or cosexuality) or sequentially (sequential hermaphroditism or dichogamy). countable, uncountable
"Among other organisms, alternative methods of reproduction include budding, hermaphroditism (one individual carrying both kinds of sex organs) and isogamy (two individuals, not distinguished as male and female, combining their genes)."
2
showing characteristics of both sexes wordnet
3
The condition of intersex people with intermediate sex characteristics or pseudohermaphroditism. countable, dated, historical, offensive, uncountable
4
congenital condition in which external genitalia and internal sex organs have both male and female characteristics wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

hermaphrodism androgyny androgyny bisexuality cosexual dichogamous

Example

More examples

"Among other organisms, alternative methods of reproduction include budding, hermaphroditism (one individual carrying both kinds of sex organs) and isogamy (two individuals, not distinguished as male and female, combining their genes)."

Etymology

From hermaphrodite + -ism.

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