homo1
/ˈhəʊməʊ
/informal, offensive
noun (plural homos)
A homosexual man.
adjective
Homosexual.
Origin
1920s: abbreviation.
Homo2
/ˈhəʊməʊ/ /ˈhɒməʊ /noun
1The genus of primates of which modern humans (Homo sapiens) are the present-day representatives.By the time the genus Homo appears in the fossil record, between 1 and 2 million years ago, fruit had been marginalized, and largely replaced by meat and by foods such as roots and tubers....
- This estimate coincides with the first appearance of the genus Homo in the fossil record.
- Some researches go so far as to include chimpanzees and gorillas in the genus Homo along with humans, but recent genetic evidence suggests that the human relationship to these species is not as close as previously thought.
1.1 [with Latin or pseudo-Latin modifier] Denoting kinds of modern human, often humorously: a textbook example of Homo neuroticus...
- To give a simple example, imagine Homo economicus searching for a mate, trying to find a woman to marry.
- The oft-mentioned Jack Abramoff may be the prime examplar of that species of Washington operator - Homo bagmanus.
- The book attempts ‘a kind of psychography of Homo ludens,’ the human at play.
The genus Homo is believed to have existed for at least two million years, and modern humans (H. sapiens sapiens) first appeared in the Upper Palaeolithic. Among several extinct species are H. habilis, H. erectus, and H. neanderthalensis.
Origin
Latin, 'man'.