aphrodisiac

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀφροδισιακός (aphrodīsiakós, “inducing sexual desire, sexual, venereal”),^[2][3][4][5] from ἀφροδίσιος (aphrodísios, “of Aphrodite, sacred to Aphrodite”),^[2][6][3] whose neuter plural meant sexual pleasures,^[7][5] from Ἀφροδίτη (Aphrodítē), the Greek goddess of love.^[7][6][8] Etymonline takes the English form from a Latinized form of the Greek adjective.^[6] The ancients explained the goddess's name by ἀφρός (aphrós, “foam”),^[6][9] but Klein and Etymonline tentatively derive it from the Phoenician name of the goddess Ashtaroth,^[4][6] and Barnhart calls the name non-Indo-European.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A drug or preparation inducing sexual desire: 1684, in the translation of T. Bonet's Guide to Practical Physician.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates the noun to 1711,^[10] and Barnhart and Etymonline to 1719.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

The first records name a drug or preparation,^[2][6] and current dictionaries extend the word to foods as well.^[8][5][11] The adjective followed in the 18th century: 1748 in the OED, in W. Lewis's translation of the Pharmacopoeia,^[2] 1747 in Merriam-Webster Unabridged,^[10] and 1775 in Etymonline, which notes the earlier adjective aphrodisical of 1719.^[6] A figurative use of the noun appears in 1873, in John Morley's Rousseau,^[2] and the Shorter Oxford illustrates it with fame and the thrill of risk as aphrodisiacs for soldiers.^[8] Barnhart and the OED compare venereal.^[3][2]

Timeline

• 1684 – noun, a drug or preparation inducing sexual desire.^[2]
• 1748 – adjective, tending to increase sexual desire.^[2]
• 1873 – noun, figuratively, in John Morley's Rousseau.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A food, drug or other substance that arouses or intensifies sexual desire: The vendor sold the powder as an aphrodisiac.^[11][5][8]
2. Figuratively, something that excites in a similar way: Applause acted on him like an aphrodisiac.^[2][8]

Adjective

1. Arousing or intensifying sexual desire: an aphrodisiac perfume.^[5][11][10]

Word family

• aphrodisiacal
• anaphrodisiac
• antiaphrodisiac

Related words

• aphrodisia
• Aphrodite
• aphrodisian

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins