hermaphrodite

hermaphrodite

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /hɝˈmæfɹədaɪt/

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

Noun

hermaphrodite (plural hermaphrodites)

1. An individual or organism possessing ambiguous sexual organs, typically including both types of gonads. [from late 14th c.]

   An earthworm is a hermaphrodite.

2. A person or thing possessing two opposing qualities.
3. (nautical) A hermaphrodite brig.
4. A farm wagon convertible to multiple purposes.
5. (World War I military, historical) An armoured fighting vehicle having features of both male tanks and female tanks.

Usage notes

• 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 is now the preferred term for human description.
• Compare androgyne and genderqueer.

Synonyms

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

Derived terms

terms derived from hermaphrodite

• false hermaphrodite
• herm / herm.
• hermaphrodism
• pseudohermaphrodite

Translations

individual or organism having both male and female gonads

Arabic: خُنْثَى‎ f (ḵunṯā) Aramaic: אנדרוגינוס‎ m (androginos) Belarusian: гермафрады́т m (hjermafradýt) Breton: divreizhadezh Bulgarian: хермафродит (bg) m (hermafrodit) Burmese: ဒွိလိင် (my) (dwi.ling) Catalan: hermafrodita (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 陰陽人／阴阳人 (zh) (yīnyángrén), 兩性人／两性人 (zh) (liǎngxìngrén) Czech: hermafrodit (cs) m, obojetník (cs) m Danish: hermafrodit (da) c Dutch: hermafrodiet (nl) m Esperanto: hermafrodito, androgino, ambaŭseksulo Estonian: hermafrodiit Finnish: hermafrodiitti (fi) French: hermaphrodite (fr) m or f German: Zwitter (de); (formal also) Hermaphrodit (de) m, Hermaphroditin f; (rarely also) Zweigeschlecht n Greek: Ancient: ἑρμαφρόδιτος m (hermaphróditos), ἀνδρόγυνος m or f (andrógunos) Hebrew: הרמפרודיט‎ (he) (hermafrodit) Hindi: हिजड़ा (hi) (hijṛā) Icelandic: tvíkynjungur m Irish: idirghnéas m Italian: ermafrodito (it) m Japanese: 双成り (ふたなり, futanari), 雌雄同体 (shiyuudoutai) Kazakh: қызтеке (qyzteke) Khmer: ខ្ទើយ (km) (ktəəy) Lao: ກະເທີຍ (lo) (ka thœ̄i) Lithuanian: hermafroditas m Malay: khunsa Navajo: nádleeh Norwegian: Bokmål: hermafroditt m Nynorsk: hermafroditt m, tvitole f, tvitoling m Old English: bǣddel, wǣpenwīfestre f, wæpnwifestre Old Ruthenian: гермафродитъ (hermafrodit) Polish: hermafrodyta (pl) m, obojnak m Portuguese: hermafrodita (pt) m or f, andrógino (pt) m, dígamo (pt) m Romanian: hermafrodit (ro) m Russian: гермафроди́т (ru) m (germafrodít) Serbo-Croatian: Roman: hermafrodit (sh), dvopolac m, dvopolnik m Spanish: hermafrodita (es) m or f Swedish: hermafrodit (sv) c Tagalog: balakihan Thai: แต๋ว (dtɛ̌o) Turkish: erdişi (tr), hermafrodit (tr), erselik (tr), hünsa (tr) Ukrainian: гермафроди́т m (hermafrodýt) Urdu: ہیجڑا‎ (hijṛa) Vietnamese: người ái nam ái nữ Volapük: (♂♀) härmafroditan, (♂) hihärmafroditan (♀) jihärmafroditan

person or thing possessing two opposing qualities

Polish: hermafrodyta (pl) m Portuguese: ambivalente m or f, ambíguo (pt) m

Adjective

hermaphrodite (not comparable)

1. (of an individual organism) Having gender-ambiguous sexual organs, typically including both types of gonads.
2. Combining two opposing qualities.

Synonyms

• androgynous
• hermaphroditic
• intersex

Translations

having both male and female gonads

Arabic: خُنْثَوِيّ‎ (ḵunṯawiyy) Bulgarian: хермафродитен (hermafroditen) Chinese: Mandarin: 雌雄同體的／雌雄同体的 (zh) (cíxióng tóngtǐ de) Danish: tvekønnet, hermafroditisk Dutch: hermafrodiet (nl), hermafrodiete (nl) Esperanto: hermafrodita (eo) Faroese: tvíkynjaður Finnish: hermafrodiitti (fi) French: hermaphrodite (fr) m or f, bisexué (fr) m, bisexuée (fr) f German: hermaphroditisch, zwittrig (de) Icelandic: tvítóla, tvítólaður, tvítóli m Irish: idirghnéasach m Japanese: 半陰陽の (はんいんようの, han'in'yō no), 雌雄同体の (しゆうどうたいの, shiyūdōtai no) Malay: hermafrodit (animal, plant), khunsa Norwegian: Bokmål: hermafrodittisk, tvekjønna, tvekjønnet Nynorsk: hermafrodittisk, tvikjønna, tvekjønna, tvitola Polish: hermafrodyczny Portuguese: hermafrodita (pt) m or f Romanian: hermafrodit (ro) Russian: гермафроди́тный (ru) (germafrodítnyj) Spanish: hermafrodita (es) Volapük: (of the condition) härmafroditik, (♂♀, of the person) härmafroditanik, (♂) hihärmafroditanik (♀) jihärmafroditanik

combining two opposing qualities

Polish: hermafrodyczny Portuguese: ambivalente

See also

• berdache, two-spirit (two-spirits were formerly often called hermaphrodites)
• genderqueer

---

French

Pronunciation

• ^{(mute h)} IPA^(key): /ɛʁ.ma.fʁɔ.dit/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

hermaphrodite (plural hermaphrodites)

1. hermaphrodite

Noun

hermaphrodite m or f by sense (plural hermaphrodites)

1. hermaphrodite

Further reading

• “hermaphrodite”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.