hermaphrodite Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun one having both male and female sexual characteristics and organs; at birth an unambiguous assignment of male or female cannot be made
    androgyne; intersex; gynandromorph; epicene; epicene person.
  2. adjective satellite of animal or plant; having both male female reproductive organs
    hermaphroditic.

WordNet

Her*maph"ro*dite noun
Etymology
L. hermaphroditus, Gr. , 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. F. hermaphrodite.
Definitions
  1. (Biol.) An individual which has the attributes of both male and female, or which unites in itself the two sexes; an animal or plant having the parts of generation of both sexes, as when a flower contains both the stamens and pistil within the same calyx, or on the same receptacle. In some cases reproduction may take place without the union of the distinct individuals. In the animal kingdom true hermaphrodites are found only among the invertebrates. See Illust. in Appendix, under Helminths.
Her*maph"ro*dite adjective
Definitions
  1. Including, or being of, both sexes; as, an hermaphrodite animal or flower. Totten.

Webster 1913