hermaphroditism

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   in biology, the condition of having both male and female reproductive organs, either simultaneously or at different life stages

   Sequential hermaphroditism allows some fish to change sex during their lives.

2. 2
   noun

   a dated and often stigmatizing term formerly used for some intersex variations in humans

   Modern clinical writing generally avoids hermaphroditism when referring to intersex people.

From hermaphrodite + -ism. Hermaphrodite comes through Latin Hermaphroditus from Greek Hermaphroditos, the mythological child of Hermes and Aphrodite whose name combines those of the two gods. The biological term was later applied to organisms with male and female reproductive functions; its historical use for people is now generally avoided.

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