hermaphrodite
noun
her·maph·ro·dite
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Definition of hermaphrodite
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
: an animal or plant having both male and female reproductive tissue or organs
2
: something that is a combination of diverse elements
hermaphrodite
adjectiveDefinition of hermaphrodite (Entry 2 of 2)
: possessing both male and female reproductive organs, structures, or tissue : hermaphroditic
hermaphrodite plants Like their relatives the earthworms, leeches are hermaphrodite animals. Each individual has both male and female sex organs but cannot fertilize itself.— Mark Carwardine
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Other Words from hermaphrodite
Noun
hermaphroditic
\ (ˌ)hər-ˌma-frə-ˈdi-tik
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adjective
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adjective
hermaphroditism
\ (ˌ)hər-ˈma-frə-ˌdī-ˌti-zəm
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noun
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noun
Examples of hermaphrodite in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
More than 30 years ago a team of scientists painstakingly traced the connections among each of the 302 nerve cells in the hermaphrodite Caenorhabditis elegans worm. — Karen Weintraub, Scientific American, "Worm Wiring Diagram May Help Us Understand Our Own Nervous System," 3 July 2019 Typically the female roundworms of this intriguing species (Caenorhabditis elegans) are hermaphrodites and don’t need males to reproduce. — National Geographic, "This Father’s Day, meet 6 extreme animal dads," 14 June 2019 The hermaphrodites, which produce both eggs and sperm at once, are the true solo act of the worm world. — Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian, "Alternatives to Heterosexual Pairings, Brought to You By Non-Human Animals," 28 June 2018 Wherefore these women may not improperly be called hermaphrodites, that is monsters of both kinds, half women, half men. — Longreads, "The Roaring Girls of Queer London," 8 May 2018 While in humans, male-female unions generally have a fifty-fifty shot of producing males or females, in these nematodes, coupling hermaphrodites with males will produce only male offspring. — Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian, "Alternatives to Heterosexual Pairings, Brought to You By Non-Human Animals," 28 June 2018 She was derided as sexless, a male hybrid, a hermaphrodite, a freak. — Benita Eisler, WSJ, "‘George Sand’ Review: Monstre Sacré," 8 June 2018 Thomas Jefferson, campaigning against John Adams, called him a hermaphrodite. — Alex Kingsbury, BostonGlobe.com, "‘Post-truth,’ the ultimate form of cynicism," 18 May 2018 She could just as easily be called, in the language of the later twentieth century, a fetishistic transvestite, a lesbian, a latent transsexual or a hermaphrodite. — Longreads, "The Roaring Girls of Queer London," 8 May 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hermaphrodite.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for hermaphrodite
hermaphrodite
noun
English Language Learners Definition of hermaphrodite
: a person, plant, or animal that has both male and female parts
See the full definition for hermaphrodite in the English Language Learners Dictionary
hermaphrodite
noun
her·maph·ro·dite
| \ (ˌ)hər-ˈmaf-rə-ˌdīt
\
\
Medical Definition of hermaphrodite
: an individual exhibiting hermaphroditism