homo
Pluralhomos
Pluralhomos
- 1The primate genus that includes present-day humans together with a number of extinct early human species.
The fossil jaw has features that some researchers say place it in Homo rather than in an earlier genus.
Several species of Homo once shared the planet, but only Homo sapiens survives.
UsageWritten with a capital H, usually in italics, and first in each species name: Homo sapiens.
Note
On its own, Homo names the whole genus, so a fossil placed in Homo counts as human in the broad sense without being one of us.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Homo denotes the genus, whose members can broadly be classified as human. en.wikipedia.org
- A fossil assigned to Homo can be human in the broad sense without belonging to our species, Homo sapiens. nhm.ac.uk
- 2Clipping of homosexual. Often derogatory and offensive.
Note
The phrase no homo, said after a remark to insist that nothing gay was meant, spread through 1990s hip-hop and is widely criticized as homophobic. It has nothing to do with the dairy word for homogenized milk, which is a separate clipping that only happens to share the spelling.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- The phrase no homo spread through hip-hop in the 1990s. en.wikipedia.org
- The milk word homo is a separate clipping of homogenized, whereas homo referring to a gay person is clipped from homosexual. en.wiktionary.org
- 3Relating to homosexuality.
UsageHeard as a put-down; in neutral speech or writing, use gay or homosexual.
Less common meanings
- 4Processed so that the butterfat stays evenly mixed through it, used almost always of whole milk.
The recipe calls for a cup of homo milk, not two percent.
The dairy case was out of homo milk, so she settled for one percent.
UsageMostly in the phrase homo milk, the full-fat choice beside two percent and skim.
Similarhomogenized
Note
American Milk Review and Milk Plant Monthly in 1958 is already comparing what homo milk cost in stores with what it cost on home delivery.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- The cited passage is attributed to American Milk Review and Milk Plant Monthly in 1958. en.wiktionary.org
- The passage compares store prices for homo milk with home-delivery prices. en.wiktionary.org
- 5Whole milk, rich in butterfat, that has been homogenized so the cream does not separate and rise.
The dairy sold homo by the quart and skim by the half gallon.
At lunch the children could pick chocolate milk or a carton of homo.
Note
The bare noun is dated; where the shortening lives on, people say homo milk, with the adjective doing the work. It belonged to the dairy trade and the grocery list in the United States and Canada, and a Purdue agricultural bulletin of 1956 still counts "one quart of homo wholesale in glass".
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- The milk sense was used in the United States and Canada. en.wiktionary.org
- The shortening occurred in dairy trading and grocery sales. en.wiktionary.org
- The quoted wording is reproduced accurately, apart from its initial capitalization. en.wiktionary.org
- 6A human being, a member of the human race.
John, John, if you don't go you're no homo—no! You're only a fowl, an owl, a cow, a sow,—a doll, a poll; a poor, old, good-for-nothing-to-nobody, log, dog, hog, or frog, come out of a Concord bog.
1850, Edgar Allan Poe, X-ing a Paragrab
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
A clipping of homosexual.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Homo in this sense is a clipping of homosexual. en.wiktionary.org
A clipping of homogenized.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Homo is a clipping of homogenized. en.wiktionary.org
From Latin homō ("man, human"). It is a doublet of gome, hombre, ombre and omi.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Homo comes from Latin homō, meaning man or human. en.wiktionary.org
- Homo is a doublet of gome, hombre, ombre and omi. en.wiktionary.org