homo
English
Etymology
A clipping of words formed from Ancient Greek ὁμο- (homo-, “same”).
Noun
homo (countable and uncountable, plural homos)
- A human.
- 1850: "X-ing a Paragrab" by Edgar Allan Poe
- John, John, if you don't go you're no homo--no! You're only a fowl, an owl, a cow, a sow,--a doll, a poll; a poor, old, good-for-nothing-to-nobody, log, dog, hog, or frog, come out of a Concord bog.
- 1850: "X-ing a Paragrab" by Edgar Allan Poe
- (colloquial, often derogatory) Clipping of homosexual.
- I heard that he's a homo, but he hasn't come out of the closet yet.
- (uncountable, dated, US, Canada) Homogenized milk with a high butterfat content.
Translations
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Adjective
homo (comparative more homo, superlative most homo)
- (colloquial, sometimes derogatory) Of or pertaining to homosexuality.
- (not comparable, Canada, US) Homogenized; almost always said of milk with a high butterfat content.
See also
Chickasaw
Czech
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈɦomo]
Noun
homo m
- genus Homo, especially in informal and creative use
- 1985, Listy:
- Tak sebou hni, ty moje malý homo sapiens! [...] můj malý homo!
- 2008, Jekaterina Andrikanis, Homevideo I. - aneb Sám sobě režisérem:
- Zapnutím kamery vstoupil „homo natáčející“ do dialogu s „homo prohlížejícím“.
- Synonym: člověk
- 1985, Listy:
Usage notes
- Specialists usually use the capitalized translingual spelling Homo.
Related terms
Dutch
Etymology
From homoseksueel.
Pronunciation
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: ho‧mo
Noun
homo m (plural homo's, diminutive homootje n)
- (neutral, not offensive) gay, homosexual
- (offensive, derogatory) Used as a general slur.
Usage notes
The word homo is a general, neutral and somewhat informal term for a homosexual person. It is used as a slur by some, but the term, or its use in this way, can be considered offensive. Because the word itself is not inherently offensive or vulgar, some people may take offense at the implication that homosexuality is something negative and shameful that could be used as a derogatory term. This depends, of course, on a particular person's attitude towards homosexuality. Compare similar usage of English gay.
Esperanto
Etymology
From Latin homo. Compare Catalan home, French homme, Interlingua homine, Italian uomo, Portuguese homem, Romanian om, Sardinian ómine, Spanish hombre.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈhomo/
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: ho‧mo
- Rhymes: -omo
Noun
homo (accusative singular homon, plural homoj, accusative plural homojn)
- a human being, person
- 1933, La Sankta Biblio, (Evangelio laŭ Luko 4:4):
- Kaj Jesuo respondis al li: Estas skribite, Ne per la pano sole vivos homo.
- Then Jesus answered him, "It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone." (Luke 4:4)
- Kaj Jesuo respondis al li: Estas skribite, Ne per la pano sole vivos homo.
- 1933, La Sankta Biblio, (Evangelio laŭ Luko 4:4):
Synonyms
- (in compounds) antropo
Derived terms
- homaranismo (“doctrine of regarding all of humanity as one's kin”)
- homamaso (“crowd”)
- kavernhomo (“cave dweller”)
- neĝhomo (“snowperson”)
- prahomo (“a prehuman (neanderthal, Cro-Magnon, etc.)”)
- senhomejo (“uninhabited territory, no-man's-land”)
Finnish
Usage notes
The word homo is a general, neutral and somewhat informal term for a homosexual person. It is used as a slur by some, but either the term, or its use in this way, this can be considered offensive. Because the word itself is not inherently offensive or vulgar, some people may take offense at the implication that homosexuality is something negative and shameful that could be used as a derogatory term. This depends, of course, on a particular person's attitude towards homosexuality. Compare similar usage in Dutch.
Declension
Inflection of homo (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation) | |||
---|---|---|---|
nominative | homo | homot | |
genitive | homon | homojen | |
partitive | homoa | homoja | |
illative | homoon | homoihin | |
singular | plural | ||
nominative | homo | homot | |
accusative | nom. | homo | homot |
gen. | homon | ||
genitive | homon | homojen | |
partitive | homoa | homoja | |
inessive | homossa | homoissa | |
elative | homosta | homoista | |
illative | homoon | homoihin | |
adessive | homolla | homoilla | |
ablative | homolta | homoilta | |
allative | homolle | homoille | |
essive | homona | homoina | |
translative | homoksi | homoiksi | |
instructive | — | homoin | |
abessive | homotta | homoitta | |
comitative | — | homoineen |
Synonyms
Derived terms
Compounds
Franco-Provençal
Etymology
From Latin homō, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰǵʰm̥mō (“earthling”).
French
Etymology
Clipping of homosexuel.
Further reading
- “homo” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Ido
Etymology
From Esperanto homo, from English human, French homme and humain, Italian uomo, Spanish hombre, from Latin homō, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰǵʰm̥mō (“earthling”).
Antonyms
- animalo (“animal”)
Italian
Noun
homo m (plural homini)
- Obsolete spelling of omo
- man, person
- c. 1226, Francis of Assisi, Cantico delle creature [Canticle of the Creatures], printed by the Biblioteca del Sacro Convento di San Francesco, page 2:
- Laudato ſi mi ſignore ᵱ ſora noſtra moꝛte coꝛᵱale, da la quale nullu hõ uiuẽte po ſkappare.
- Praised be you, my Lord, through our sister Bodily Death, from whose embrace no living person can escape.
- 1321, Dante Alighieri, “Inferno [Hell]”, in La divina commedia [The Divine Comedy], 1st edition, Foligno: Printed by Johannes Numeister and Evangelista Mei, published 1472, Canto I, lines 64-66:
- Quando uiddi cuſtui nel gran diſerto ¶ Miſerere di me gridai ad lui ¶ qual che tu ſii o ombra o homo certo
- When I beheld him in the desert vast, ¶ «Have pity on me», unto him I cried, ¶ «whiche'er thou art, or shade or real man!»
-
- man, person
Latin

Etymology
From earlier hemō, from Proto-Italic *hemō, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰm̥mṓ (“earthling”), from *dʰéǵʰōm (“earth”), whence Latin humus. Cognates include Old Lithuanian žmuõ (“man”), Gothic 𐌲𐌿𐌼𐌰 (guma) and Old English guma (“man”).
See also nēmō (“no one”), from *ne hemō.
The phenomenon of a derivational relationship between the words for both earth and man is also seen in Semitic languages: Hebrew אָדָם (adám, “man”), אֲדָמָה (adamá, “soil”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈho.moː/, [ˈhɔ.moː]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈo.mo/, [ˈoː.mo]
Audio (Classical) (file)
Noun
homō m (genitive hominis); third declension
- a human being, a man (in the sense of human being), a person
- Heauton Timorumenos (“The Self-Tormentor”) by Publius Terentius Afer
- Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto.
- I am a man, I consider nothing that is human alien to me.
- Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto.
- Homō hominī lupus est.
- Man acts like a wolf to man.
- Alere nōlunt hominem edācem.
- They won't keep a greedy man.
- Hominēs, dum docent, discunt.
- Men learn while they teach.
- Heauton Timorumenos (“The Self-Tormentor”) by Publius Terentius Afer
- sir
- Tū, homō, adigis mē ad īnsāniam.
- You, sir, are driving me insane.
- Tū, homō, adigis mē ad īnsāniam.
- (Medieval Latin) a husband
Inflection
Third declension.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | homō | hominēs |
Genitive | hominis | hominum |
Dative | hominī | hominibus |
Accusative | hominem | hominēs |
Ablative | homine | hominibus |
Vocative | homō | hominēs |
Derived terms
- ad hominem
- deushomō
- homō ego sum, homō tū es
- homō hominī lupus
- homō nūllīus colōris
- homullus (diminutive)
- homunciō (diminutive)
- homunculus (diminutive)
- hūmānitās
- hūmānus
- sēmihomō
Descendants
- Emilian: òmen, òm
- → Esperanto: homo
- → Ido: homo
- → Interlingua: homine
- → Interlingue: hom
- Italo-Dalmatian:
- Mozarabic: wémne
- Navarro-Aragonese: hombre
- Old Franco-Provençal: *homo, *hon, *hom
- Old French: homme, hom
- Old Leonese: om̃e
References
- homo in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- homo in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- homo in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
- Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- our contemporaries; men of our time: homines qui nunc sunt (opp. qui tunc fuerunt)
- our contemporaries; men of our time: homines huius aetatis, nostrae memoriae
- that is the way of the world; such is life: sic vita hominum est
- the position of the lower classes: condicio ac fortuna hominum infimi generis
- what am I to do with this fellow: quid huic homini (also hoc homine) faciam?
- Fortune makes men shortsighted, infatuates them: fortuna caecos homines efficit, animos occaecat
- my most intimate acquaintance: homo intimus, familiarissimus mihi
- to be in every one's mouth: in ore omnium or omnibus (hominum or hominibus, but only mihi, tibi, etc.) esse
- to be a subject for gossip: in sermonem hominum venire
- the common opinion, the general idea: existimatio hominum, omnium
- a devotee of pleasure; a self-indulgent man: homo voluptarius (Tusc. 2. 7. 18)
- many men, many minds: quot homines, tot sententiae
- within the memory of man: post hominum memoriam
- within the memory of man: post homines natos
- learned, scientific, literary men: homines litterarum studiosi
- learned, scientific, literary men: homines docti
- a man of learning; a scholar; a savant: vir or homo doctus, litteratus
- for a Roman he is decidedly well educated: sunt in illo, ut in homine Romano, multae litterae (De Sen. 4. 12)
- to civilise men, a nation: homines, gentem a fera agrestique vita ad humanum cultum civilemque deducere (De Or. 1. 8. 33)
- an accomplished dialectician: homo in dialecticis versatissimus
- moral science; ethics: philosophia, in qua de bonis rebus et malis, deque hominum vita et moribus disputatur
- a conscientious historian: homo in historia diligens
- a singer, member of a choir: (homo) symphoniacus
- a wit; a joker: (homo) ridiculus (Plaut. Stich. 1. 3. 21)
- a man of no self-control, self-indulgent: homo impotens sui
- a man of no self-control, self-indulgent: homo effrenatus, intemperans
- a moral (immoral) man: homo bene (male) moratus
- a depraved, abandoned character: homo perditus
- a man of character, with a strong personality: vir constans, gravis (opp. homo inconstans, levis)
- to sacrifice human victims: pro victimis homines immolare
- to unite isolated individuals into a society: dissipatos homines in (ad) societatem vitae convocare (Tusc. 1. 25. 62)
- to shun society: hominum coetus, congressus fugere
- business-men: homines negotii (always in sing.) gerentes
- an experienced politician: homo in re publica exercitatus
- a parvenu (a man no member of whose family has held curule office): homo novus
- people of every rank: homines omnis generis
- people of every rank and age: homines omnium ordinum et aetatum
- one of the people: homo plebeius, de plebe
- a popular man: aurae popularis homo (Liv. 42. 30)
- public opinion: existimatio populi, hominum
- to be always considering what people think: multum communi hominum opinioni tribuere
- men of sound opinions: homines graves (opp. leves)
- a democrat: homo popularis
- a man who genuinely wishes the people's good: homo vere popularis (Catil. 4. 5. 9)
- a democratic leader: homo florens in populari ratione
- revolutionists: homines seditiosi, turbulenti or novarum rerum cupidi
- our contemporaries; men of our time: homines qui nunc sunt (opp. qui tunc fuerunt)
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
Short for homofil (“homophile”) or homofil person (“homophile person”).
Noun
homo m (definite singular homoen, indefinite plural homoer, definite plural homoene)
- a homosexual or gay (male homosexual person).
Synonyms
- homofil
- homse
- soper
Derived terms
- homodager
- homoekteskap
- homogutt
- homomarsj
- homoparade
Related terms
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
Short for homofil (“homophile”) or homofil person (“homophile person”).
Noun
homo m (definite singular homoen, indefinite plural homoar, definite plural homoane)
- a homosexual or gay (male homosexual person).
Synonyms
- homofil
- homse
- sopar
Derived terms
- homoekteskap
- homomarsj
- homoparade