: a statue in the form of a square stone pillar surmounted by a bust or head especially of Hermes

Examples of herm in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web This female image of fruitfulness is matched across the painting’s 10-foot expanse by a menacing herm of Pan — the god of the fields, symbol of fertility and, according to Plutarch, the only Greek deity who dies — peering out from the bushes. Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2021 Publicly displayed for the first time, the tripod’s legs are adorned with carved ivory bas-reliefs of cupids cavorting around herms, boundary markers of stone pillars with human heads. Christopher Knight, latimes.com, 3 July 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'herm.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Latin hermes, from Greek hermēs statue of Hermes, herm, from Hermēs

First Known Use

circa 1580, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of herm was circa 1580

Dictionary Entries Near herm

Cite this Entry

“Herm.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/herm. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

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