n. & adj.
--n.
1. a Zool. an animal having both male and female sexual organs. b Bot. a plant having stamens and pistils in the same flower.
2 a human being in which both male and female sex organs are present, or in which the sex organs contain both ovarian and testicular tissue.
3 a person or thing combining opposite qualities or characteristics.
--adj.
1. combining both sexes.
2 combining opposite qualities or characteristics.
Phrases and idioms:
hermaphrodite brig hist. a two-masted sailing ship rigged on the foremast as a brig and on the mainmast as a schooner.
Derivatives:
hermaphroditic adj. hermaphroditical adj. hermaphroditism n.
Etymology: L hermaphroditus f. Gk hermaphroditos, orig. the name of a son of Hermes and Aphrodite in Greek mythology, who became joined in one body with the nymph Salmacis