Greetings, fellow sentient lifeforms.
I'm looking for a term meaning 'having a shape similar to a human' for a sci-fi story, ie erect, with two legs, two feet, two arms, two hands, one head with two eyes and a mouth with teeth and a tongue (ear, nose, finger and toe structures and counts negotiable). I have rejected 'anthropomorphic' as not being specific enough. I'm currently using the clumsy 'hominidiform'.
May all your moons circumnavigate in the same direction.
Humanoid
M-W says:
a nonhuman creature or being with characteristics (such as the ability to walk upright) resembling those of a human.
Thank you, fellow sentient lifeform.
I don't like the M-W definition. Again, it's not specific enough. But other dictionary definitions of humanoid are more suitable. My humanoids will include humans, despite M-W.
I intend my humanoids to generally be sexually compatible, although not necessarily biologically compatible.
May your suns always rise again after they set.
I intend my humanoids to generally be sexually compatible, although not necessarily biologically compatible.
Rishathra is the ritual mating of two different humanoid species on Ringworld, usually non viable, for the purposes of trade, peace treaties or cultural exchange.
I don't like the M-W definition
O.K., how about Wictionary? The entry for -oid (Resembling; having the likeness of - usually including the concept of not being the same despite the likeness ...) has as its first example 'Humanoid' (it doesn't, however, have the first example I thought of, 'Ovoid', egg-shaped, from 'ovum', the Latin for egg).
I don't like the M-W definition.
If you prefer, Oxford languages (which comes up if you type "define:" in Google says:
hu·man·oid
/ˈhyo͞oməˌnoid/
adjective
adjective: humanoid
having an appearance or character resembling that of a human.
"a small, green, and hideously warty humanoid figure"
noun
noun: humanoid; plural noun: humanoids
(especially in science fiction) a being resembling a human in its shape.
"a three-eyed humanoid"
Similarly, Cambridge defines it as:
humanoid
noun [ C ]
uk
/ˈhjuː.mə.nɔɪd/ us
/ˈhjuː.mə.nɔɪd/
Add to word list
a machine or creature with the appearance and qualities of a human
Certainly you can make up your own word for this, but be wary that it could confuse some portion of the audience. Unless your story is written in such a way that the distinction between something being humanoid and something being humaniform is important, many readers will think you're intentionally confusing the issue.
IIRC Larry Niven referred to his various humanoid aliens on Ringworld as Hominids.
Humanoids on earth with an alien / draconic mindset I call politicians.
Thank you, fellow sentient lifeform.
'Hominid' seems to be a biological term and implies evolutionary connections between its members. My story posits parallel evolution. It's possible the definition of hominid might become more inclusive as language changes over time, but I'm writing for a twenty first century audience. At this point, I'm still favouring 'humanoid', despite the definition's wideness including non-biological entities such as robots.
May your satellites be lite, not heavy.
"Bipedal" is sometimes used in Sci-Fi or Fantasy stories to refer to a "Humanoid" being or creature. While an ostrich is also bipedal, in my experience reading fiction, bipedal is typically humanoid (including robots, androids, etc.)
Would R2-D2 be classed as Bipedal or Tripedal? Both two actuator and three actuator modes of movement are used. Birds, also, are bipedal but not human-shaped. Bipedal is implied by Humanoid, but not vice-versa; we want an upright body supported on two ambulatory appendages, with two manipulatory appendages near the sensory cluster at the top.
