herm-, herme- +

1. A rectangular, often tapering stone post bearing a carved head or bust, usually of Hermes, used as a boundary marker in ancient Greece and for decorative purposes in later periods.
2. A square pillar topped with a bust, usually of the god Hermes, used as a marker in ancient Greece and Rome, and as an ornament in classical architecture.

In classical mythology, Hermanubis was a god who combined Hermes (Greek mythology) with Anubis (Egyptian mythology). He was popular during the period of Roman domination.

Depicted as having a human body and jackal head, with the sacred caduceus that belonged to the Greek god Hermes, he represented the Egyptian priesthood. He is the son of Osiris and Nephthys.

1. An animal or plant bearing both male and female reproductive organs.
2. An organism; such as, an earthworm or flowering plant, having both male and female reproductive organs in a single individual.

Through Middle English, hermofrodite, from the Latin element hermaphroditus, from Greek hermaphroditos, from Hermaphroditos, the son of Aphrodite and Hermes who merged into one form with the nymph Salmacis.

1. A reference to animals or plants having both male and female reproductive organs.
2. Containing the sex organs of both sexes in one individual.

A reference to reef-forming corals that contain symbiotic algae within the polyps.

Interpretive or explanatory.

From Greek hermeneutikos (of interpreting), from hermeneuein (to interpret), from hermeneus (interpreter). A term based on Hermes in Greek mythology, who served as a messenger and herald for other gods, and who himself was the god of eloquence, commerce, invention, cunning, and theft.

1. The art or science of literary interpretations.
2. The theory and methodology of interpretation, especially of scriptural text.
3. The branch of theology that deals with principles of exegesis.

Originally hermeneutics was understood to be the branch of Theology concerned with exegesis, then it became the designation for a discipline within philosophy concerned with study of interpretation in a more general sense. It may be described as the development and study of theories of the interpretation and understanding of texts.

Someone who interprets literary or scriptural texts.

The son of Zeus and Maia, the god of commerce and messenger of the gods in Greek mythology; equivalent to the Roman god Mercury.

He was the patron of athletes, thieves, and trade, and was usually depicted with wings on his cap and sandals; in addition, he was described as the god of commerce, invention, cunning, and theft, who also served as messenger, scribe, and herald for the other gods.

A name variously ascribed by Neoplatonists and others to an Egyptian priest or to the Egyptian god Thoth, to some extent identified with the Grecian Hermes: various mystical, religious, philosophical, astrological, and alchemical writings were ascribed to him.

1. Completely sealed, especially against the escape or entry of air.
2. Impervious to outside interference or influence: the hermetic confines of an isolated life.
3. Having to do with the occult sciences, especially alchemy; magical; alchemic; obscure; difficult to inderstand.

Identified by Neoplatonists, mystics, and alchemists with the Egyptian god Thoth as Hermes Trismegistos, "Thrice-Great Hermes", who supposedly invented the process of making a glass tube airtight (a process in alchemy) using a secret seal; and from his name the adjective hermetic, meaning "airtight" was derived.

In New Latin, the adjective hermeticus was formed from the name of this god, and the English is borrowed from the New Latin. In the seventeenth century, English hermetic meant "pertaining to alchemy" and the occult sciences in general. Alchemy, and later chemistry, was itself known as the hermetic art, philosophy, or science.

A category of popular Late Antique literature said to contain secret wisdom, and generally attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, "thrice-great Hermes". A collection of several such Greek texts from the second and third centuries, survivors from a more extensive literature, were compiled into a Corpus Hermeticum by Italian scholars during the Renaissance. Other Hermetic works, however, existed in Syriac, Arabic, Armenian, Coptic, and other languages.

1. Made perfectly close or air-tight by fusion, so that no gas or spirit can enter or escape; as, an hermetic seal.
2. Of or pertaining to the system which explains the causes of diseases and the operations of medicine on the principles of the hermetic philosophy, and which made much use, as a remedy, of an alkali and an acid; as, hermetic medicine.
3. Of, pertaining to, or taught by, Hermes Trismegistus; as, hermetic philosophy; hence: Alchemical; chemic.

1. A body of ideas set forth in Hermetic writings.
2. Adherence to the ideas expressed in Hermetic writings.
3. The occult sciences; especially, alchemy.

1. Someone who has external genitalia of one sex and internal sex organs of the other sex; not a true hermaphrodite because there is no ambiguity in the sex of the external genitalia and hence no question about the gender of the individual at birth.
2. Having internal reproductive organs of one sex and external sexual characteristics of the other sex.