Homunculus

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Not to be confused with the Haemonculus, a Dark Eldar social caste/unit in Warhammer 40,000.

A homunculus (plural: homunculi) is an artificial lifeform created by the use of alchemy. The concept was fully defined and established by alchemists in the 1600s, but the concept goes back into ancient history; the word is Latin for "tiny man". In fantasy settings, homunculi tend to be amongst the simplest members of the Construct family tree, making them distant cousins to golems.

In D&D

In Dungeons & Dragons, the homunculus is an alchemy-spawned golem-like entity typically portrayed as resembling an imp, but without the usual moral hassles of dealing with having a fiend as one's familiar. It gets mispelled as homonculous surprisingly often in official books.

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In Warhammer

Homunculi have appeared in various older sources of Warhammer Fantasy lore, typically as Chaos-created abominations that flock to the service of dark mages.

In Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd edition, the wizard splatbook presents mechanics for creating homunculi as familiars.