Different meanings of "homo"

Question

"Homo" has two main meanings that I am aware of: "man" (e.g. "homo sapiens"), and "same" (e.g. "homogenous", "homosexual", etc.).

Those seem like pretty distinct meanings, but I am curious to know if their etymology has a common ancestor at some point. Basically, how did "homo" come to have these two very distinct meanings?

Possible duplicate of this question - at least the answer can be found there: it's Latin vs. Greek. — Glorfindel, Mar 03 '17 at 15:38

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 03 '17 at 15:41

3

"Homosexual" derives from Greek, where "homo" means "same." It's similar to the word "homogeneous."

"Homo sapiens" derives from Latin, where "homo" means "man." It's similar to the Spanish word "hombre," and the oft-quoted scriptural passage "Ecce homo."

answered Mar 03 '17 at 15:41

Chaim

3,015

Thanks for the links to etymology online. Didn't realize that it existed. – Jim Clay Mar 03 '17 at 15:52

Different meanings of "homo"

1 Answers1