Homunculus

A homunculus (UK: /hɒˈmʌŋkjʊləs/ hom-UNK-yuul-əs, US: /hoʊˈ-/ hohm-, Latin: [hɔˈmʊŋkʊlʊs]; "little person", pl.: homunculi UK: /hɒˈmʌŋkjʊliː/ hom-UNK-yuul-ee, US: /hoʊˈ-/ hohm-, Latin: [hɔˈmʊŋkʊli]) is a small human being.^[1] Popularized in 16th-century alchemy and 19th-century fiction, it has historically referred to the creation of a miniature, fully formed human. The concept has roots in preformationism as well as earlier folklore and alchemic traditions.

The term lends its name to the cortical homunculus, an image of a person with the size of the body parts distorted to represent how much area of the cerebral cortex of the brain is devoted to it.