herm

[ hurm ]

noun
  1. a monument consisting of a four-sided shaft tapering inward from top to bottom and bearing a head or bust; those of Hermes usually had an erect penis, which passersby stroked for luck.

Origin of herm

1
1570–80; <Latin hermēs<Greek hermês statue of Hermes

Words Nearby herm

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use herm in a sentence

  • But if he had not come I could not have got to herm before they set their watch boats.

    Carette of Sark | John Oxenham
  • And—say, Phil, mon gars,—don't let that young cub from herm get ahead of you.

    Carette of Sark | John Oxenham
  • Fine doings there are on herm, they say, when they're all at home there.

    Carette of Sark | John Oxenham
  • So I crept round the south of herm and drew into the little roadstead on the west.

    Carette of Sark | John Oxenham
  • Did you not say that the pretty damsel of herm had a father?

    Jethou | E. R. Suffling

British Dictionary definitions for herm

herm

herma (ˈhɜːmə)

/ (hɜːm) /


nounplural herms, hermae (ˈhɜːmiː) or hermai (ˈhɜːmaɪ)
  1. (in ancient Greece) a stone head of Hermes surmounting a square stone pillar

Origin of herm

1
C16: from Latin herma, from Greek hermēs Hermes 1

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