Many modern people are convinced that we are not alone in the universe, despite the fact that there is no evidence of intelligent life on other planets. However, human imagination is very sophisticated, it not only populated the objects of the universe with fictitious inhabitants, but also divided the latter into races, figured out how each of them looks. And so a humanoid appeared - it is a creature, a resident of other planets. The article offers to get acquainted with the features of the meaning of this word.
Definition
So, based on the fact that other intelligent beings inhabit other planets , they should have their own name (by analogy with people who are called “people”). We will find out who such a humanoid is in this interpretation.
This is an alien, his appearance is very reminiscent of a man, but at the same time and has a number of distinctive features. Most often it is:
- Head disproportionate to the body.
- Pale skin with an earthy gray or beige hue.
- Lack of auricles, hair, eyebrows, eyelashes.
- Huge eyes without pupils.
Other features are sometimes highlighted. So, they include the absence of sexual characteristics, communication with each other through telepathy, the possession of hypnosis, with the help of which these aliens abduct people for their experiments.
Based on all this, we will draw the first conclusion: a humanoid is a resident of another planet, possessing sufficient technology to make a space trip, looks very much like a person, but also has a number of differences, owning hypnosis and telepathy. Such a definition reflects species and tribal affiliation (alien (genus) and human-like (species), distinctive features and specificity).
Characteristics of the word
Despite the fact that a humanoid is an alien from another planet, the word is quite earthly and obeys the laws of the Russian language (or others, when it comes to foreign culture). We highlight its characteristics:
- Noun.
- Common (although in some cases it can also appear as its own, if, for example, inventive owners called the kitten or domestic iguana Humanoid).
- Male gender. Note that in Russian many words of the masculine gender, meaning persons, have a feminine version ("schoolboy" - "schoolgirl"), the word "humanoid" is used in relation to creatures of both male and female.
- Changes in numbers and cases.
Specificity of use
We give examples of use in speech:
- Humanoids are residents of other planets that may occasionally visit Earth.
- Often about humanoids, you can read fascinating stories in science fiction books.
- Even if we do not believe in humanoids, this does not mean that they do not believe in us.
In addition, we note that the word can be used by native speakers in a figurative sense. So, speaking of an eccentric person who does not behave like everyone else, one can say: “This humanoid again conceived stupidity, all day doing nonsense. I wouldn’t have learned lessons! ” It is clear that in this example we are not talking about an alien, but about a man who, however, with his behavior has earned a similar characterization.
Difference from similar terms
Considering the concept and definition of the word "humanoid", a line should be drawn that delimits it from similar words, which are not synonyms. This is an "alien" and an "alien." So:
- An alien is a resident of another planet. It may not resemble a person in any way (recall, for example, the film “Alien” - it is just aliens that are represented in it). In addition, he lives on his planet and may not be interested in the Earth at all. People become an object of hunting for him only if they themselves fall on his home planet.
- Alien. This is also a resident of another planet or galaxy who made an interstellar journey and came to Earth. Let’s take the movie “Something” as an example.
- Humanoid. This is a type of alien alien, which in its features resembles a person. A classic example is the “gray” men from the series “The X-Files”.
So, let's summarize briefly: an alien is an inhabitant of another planet, an alien is an alien who flew to Earth. A humanoid is an alien that resembles a human being.
Term history
The word came to the Russian language from Latin primary sources, in frequency, from humanoids, "reminiscent of man." We learn how the concept of "humanoid" came about. This happened in 1912, when it became necessary to somehow name the remains of skeletons discovered by archaeologists, similar to human ones, but not such.
Therefore, the word was first used in relation to completely earthly and real objects, only later, with the development of science fiction, it changed its meaning somewhat and is now used most often in relation to creatures from other planets.
Modern features
We continue to get acquainted with the word "humanoid." Its value, as shown earlier, has changed. And this process continues. So, now the term is also used not in relation to alien inhabitants, but in connection with the inventions of human hands, for example, with the creation of humanoid robots that look like people in appearance. Sometimes in this case the term “android” is used.
The distinguishing features of such humanoids are as follows:
- The presence of any features remotely resembling human ones. For example, a torso with arms or heads on shoulders.
- Exact similarity is not a prerequisite, a humanoid robot may well look like a machine, a mechanism.
However, this type of technology is only beginning to develop, therefore the word "humanoid" is rarely used in relation to robots.
So, we got acquainted with the meaning of the term, saw that the word, for all its understandability, is rather ambiguous, its essence was rethought in different eras. It has both direct and figurative meaning.