homunculus
noun
ho·mun·cu·lus
hō-ˈməŋ-kyə-ləs 
plural homunculi
hō-ˈməŋ-kyə-ˌlī
-ˌlē
1
: a little man : manikin
2
: a miniature adult that in the theory of preformation is held to inhabit the germ cell and to produce a mature individual merely by an increase in size
Examples of homunculus in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
What was this distinct brain network right in the middle of the homunculus?
—
Nico U.f. Dosenbach, Scientific American, 21 Apr. 2023
Overall, our findings mean that the homunculus wears no clothes.
—Nico U.f. Dosenbach, Scientific American, 21 Apr. 2023
But now, in a paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature, researchers suggest the homunculus map is missing some key parts.
—Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Apr. 2023
Your mouth is a highly sensitive area with a disproportionate number of neurons dedicated to it; the homunculus, the carnival-like depiction of our body as expressed in our brain, shows it as having greater sensory significance than the entire torso.
—Dana Smith, Discover Magazine, 28 Apr. 2014
That’s my homunculus: the storyteller of Emma.
—Emma Marris, Discover Magazine, 27 Jan. 2015
The skewed mental map is remarkably similar to another map called Penfield’s homunculus, which charts the areas of the brain’s somatosensory cortex (the bit that processes touch information) that is devoted to each body part.
—Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 15 June 2010
By stimulating different points and seeing what happened, the neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield first mapped the motor homunculus in 1937 and this account has become the orthodox view of how the motor cortex is organized.
—Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 11 Dec. 2015
In other words, the blogger posted the well-hung homunculus as a joke, not a scientific claim.
—Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 15 May 2015
See More
Nico U.f. Dosenbach, Scientific American, 21 Apr. 2023
Overall, our findings mean that the homunculus wears no clothes.
—Nico U.f. Dosenbach, Scientific American, 21 Apr. 2023
But now, in a paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature, researchers suggest the homunculus map is missing some key parts.
—Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Apr. 2023
Your mouth is a highly sensitive area with a disproportionate number of neurons dedicated to it; the homunculus, the carnival-like depiction of our body as expressed in our brain, shows it as having greater sensory significance than the entire torso.
—Dana Smith, Discover Magazine, 28 Apr. 2014
That’s my homunculus: the storyteller of Emma.
—Emma Marris, Discover Magazine, 27 Jan. 2015
The skewed mental map is remarkably similar to another map called Penfield’s homunculus, which charts the areas of the brain’s somatosensory cortex (the bit that processes touch information) that is devoted to each body part.
—Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 15 June 2010
By stimulating different points and seeing what happened, the neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield first mapped the motor homunculus in 1937 and this account has become the orthodox view of how the motor cortex is organized.
—Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 11 Dec. 2015
In other words, the blogger posted the well-hung homunculus as a joke, not a scientific claim.
—Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 15 May 2015
See More
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“Homunculus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/homunculus. Accessed 4 Dec. 2023.
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Medical Definition
homunculus
noun
ho·mun·cu·lus
hō-ˈməŋ-kyə-ləs
: a miniature adult that in the theory of preformation was held to inhabit the germ cell and to produce a mature individual merely by an increase in size
More from Merriam-Webster on homunculus
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