Happy Monday! We’re back on with the A-to-Z and I have something fun to share:
Homunculus
[huh-muhng-kyuh-luhs, hoh-]
Noun: an artificially made dwarf, supposedly produced in a flask by an alchemist.
OK, I laughed out loud when I found this word. Truly? An artificially made dwarf? In a flask? Can you see the little dude in the image? Can you imagine the uses for such a creature? I wish I had that recipe.
Of course there are other, more reasonable definitions, but they are nowhere near as fun.
- a fully formed, miniature human body believed, according to some medical theories of the 16th and 17th centuries, to be contained in the sperm
- a diminutive human being.
- the human fetus.
My 2011 Post: Still linked to Saturday’s G and H for Gung Ho!
Today’s #photoadayapril prompt: Younger You
Ha! :) I’m more familiar with the scientific definition: a sensory homunculus is the model of what a human would look like should different parts of their body be sized according to sensitivity to touch. Here’s a picture of one:
http://neurobonkers.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/3d-homunculus.png
J.C. Martin
A to Z Blogger
wow, JC – that is bizarre. Didn’t know there were classifications of homunculi.
I so love learning new words.
Karen
Hi…I’m hopping over from the A to Z challenge. Lovely post…good luck with the challenge. I’m a new follower!
Donna L Martin
http://www.donasdays.blogspot.com
I know this word! w00t! All thanks to anime. lol
Love the picture! :)
Well, what d’ya know? I actually know this word! I’m going to agree with an above poster: It was all thanks to anime. A wonderfully written manga to anime adaptation. If you have the time, definitely check out Fullmetal Alchemist (the original series beats out the new series which follows the manga more closely. My suggestion: if you want to know what happens in the manga, read the manga.)
“Let the semen of a man putrefy by itself in a sealed cucurbite with the highest putrefaction of the venter equinus [horse manure] for forty days, or until it begins at last to live, move, and be agitated, which can easily be seen…If now, after this, it be everyday nourished and fed cautiously and prudently with [an] arcanum of human blood…it becomes, thenceforth, a true and living infant, having all the members of a child that is born from a woman, but much smaller.” – Paracelcus
Well… you did ask for the recipe!
I’ve got that same image on one of my blogs:
http://shatterworldrpg.blogspot.com/2011/10/enchanted-undead.html
“H” is also for Helen, Georgia. Go A to Z Challenge!
http://mainstreetarts.blogspot.com/2012/04/spotlight-helen-georgia.html
Look at that cute little you.
As far as the dwarf in a flask, that would be awesome.
it really would. Perhaps we should start blogging as we attempt to perfect the recipe above, lol.