Learn English – Word for an animated monster made of the body parts of dead people

single-word-requestsword-choice

Is there a word for this? I'm looking for a nice colorful word with the above definition.

Examples include:

  • Frankenstein's monster.
  • Flesh atronach (from Elder Scrolls games).

The word is not:

  • Zombie (because a zombie is an animated dead body, not cobbled or sewn together from multiple bodies).

P.S. Think there should be some kind of "reverse dictionary" or "locate a word for this definition" tag?

Best Answer

golem can be stretched to meet the OP's definition. Oxford Dictionaries defines golem as:

1(in Jewish legend) a clay figure brought to life by magic.

1.1 An automaton or robot

Oxford Dictionaries (same link as above) explains the origin:

Late 19th century: from Yiddish goylem, from Hebrew gōlem ‘shapeless mass’

Merriam Webster says:

1 : an artificial human being in Hebrew folklore endowed with life

2 : something or someone resembling a golem: such as a : automaton b : blockhead

Although the original meaning was a clay or mud figure brought to life by magic, because the meaning has been extended to a robot or automaton -- or a blockhead! -- I see no reason why it cannot also be extended to a being made from the body parts of dead people.

The body parts are inanimate, will turn into dirt eventually, and are much closer to clay or mud that are the parts of a robot. Jumbled in a heap, or if they have been dead long enough, they are shapeless. And if the creator of the golem puts the parts through a industrial size mix-master so he can mold the shape of his golem, rather than assemble it jig-saw puzzle fashion, golem is indisputably the word.

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