homunculus /hōmung″kyələs/ pl. homunculi [L, little man] , 1. a dwarf in whom all the body parts are proportionally developed and in which there is no deformity or abnormality. 2. (in early embryological theories of development, primarily preformation) a minute and complete human being contained in each of the germ cells that after fertilization grows from the microscopic to normal size. 3. a small anatomical model of the human form; a manikin, specifically, one believed to have been produced by an alchemist and placed into a flask. 4. (in psychiatry) a little man created by the imagination who possesses magical powers.
