homunculus

/hɒˈmʌŋk.jʊ.ləs/

//hɒˈmʌŋk.jʊ.ləs// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"homunculus" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“homunculus” is uncommon English (frequency #70,751 among 2,646 “H” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#70,751
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A miniature man, once imagined by spermists to be present in human sperm.

Corpus desk

Index EN-homunculus · homunculus · English

homunculus · rank #70,751 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #70,751
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH homebound

Nearest frequency peer: homebound (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “homunculus”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “homunculus” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for homunculus
PropertyValue
Headwordhomunculus
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/hɒˈmʌŋk.jʊ.ləs/
Letters10
Frequency rank#70,751
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “homunculus” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).homunculusfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “homebound” (#70,750), “hoeing” (#70,749), “hoar” (#70,748). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “homunculus” is #70,751. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

homunculus is uncommon English at frequency #70,751 among 2,646 “H” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /hɒˈmʌŋk.jʊ.ləs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for homunculus, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin homunculus, from homō (“man”) + -culus (diminutive suffix). The correct English form is homunculus, spelled H-O-M-U-N-C-U-L-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    A miniature man, once imagined by spermists to be present in human sperm.
  2. 2
    The nerve map of the human body that exists on the parietal lobe of the human brain.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how homunculus appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Ser Perth stayed near him most of the time now. The man was obviously worried, but tried not to show it. "We've managed to get some testosterone from a blond homunculus," he reported. "That should put you on your feet in no time. Don't worry, young man we'll keep you vivified somehow until the Sign changes." But he didn't sound convincing.
  2. “It’s this snaggletoothed, little bird-footed homunculus caricature,” Bourneuf said. “Many artists at this time were trying to make new altarpieces. Klee tended to take a very skeptical distance from the sort of grandiose projects of many of his expressionist peers, so I think it’s actually kind of mocking those hopes.”

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin homunculus, from homō (“man”) + -culus (diminutive suffix).

This word in other languages

homúnculo(Español)homoncule(Français)Homunkulus(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "homunculus"?
"homunculus" is spelled H-O-M-U-N-C-U-L-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /hɒˈmʌŋk.jʊ.ləs/.
What does "homunculus" mean?
As a noun, "homunculus" means: A miniature man, once imagined by spermists to be present in human sperm.
How do you pronounce "homunculus"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "homunculus" is /hɒˈmʌŋk.jʊ.ləs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "homunculus"?
Borrowed from Latin homunculus, from homō (“man”) + -culus (diminutive suffix). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "homunculus", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

hyperdrive#70,762handsomest#70,734indexation#70,772gunfighter#70,722

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list