ETYM Latin hermaphroditus, Greek hermaphrodite, so called from the mythical story that Hermaphroditus, son of Hermes and Aphrodite, when bathing, became joined in one body with Salmacis, the nymph of a fountain in Caria: cf. French hermaphrodite.
One having both male and female sexual characteristics and organs; SYN. gynandromorph, androgyne, epicine, epicine person.
Organism that has both male and female sex organs. Hermaphroditism is the norm in such species as earthworms and snails, and is common in flowering plants. Cross-fertilization is the rule among hermaphrodites, with the parents functioning as male and female simultaneously, or as one or the other sex at different stages in their development. Human hermaphrodites are extremely rare.
(person, plant, etc.) With characteristics, especially generative organs, of both sexes.