erection

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ereccioun,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Latin ērēctiō (“a setting up”),^[5][3][6][7] perhaps through Old French érection.^[8] In Late Latin ērēctiō could also mean pride or insolence.^[3] It is formed from the past participle of ērigō (“to set up, erect”),^[3][6][7] from ē- (“up, out of”) and regō (“to direct, keep straight”),^[3] which Etymonline traces to Proto-Indo-European *reg- (“to move in a straight line”).^[3] It is the noun of erect.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The swelling and stiffening of the penis: before 1425, in a Middle English translation of Chauliac's surgery, which glosses ereccioun as "rysyng vp".^[2][3] The OED, which has the word only from 1503, gives first "advancement in rank or office".^[5]

Semantic evolution

Middle English already had the sense "elevation in rank", recorded in 1450 of the creation of a viscount,^[2][3] and the raising of tall structures such as steeples is mentioned before 1484.^[2] The OED's records of the physiological sense begin only in 1594;^[5] the SOED dates it to the late 15th century.^[8] The founding of an office or institution is recorded from 1508,^[5] the building of a structure from 1614 and a building itself from 1609;^[5][8] Etymonline dates the sense "the putting up of a building" to the 1590s.^[3] Several figurative senses died out in the 17th century: elevation of the hands or of hills (1584–1692), and the raising of the spirits (1586–1674).^[5] In astrology it meant the casting of a horoscope (from 1612, now obsolete),^[5] and in Scots law, from 1754, a lordship created out of a church benefice.^[5] Johnson (1755) gave "the act of raising" and "the act of building" first.^[9]

Timeline

• ?a1425 – erection of the penis, in a translation of Chauliac.^[2]
• 1450 – elevation in rank.^[2]
• 1503 – advancement in dignity (obsolete by 1661).^[5]
• 1508 – establishment of an office or institution.^[5]
• 1594 – the stiffening of an organ of erectile tissue.^[5]
• 1609 – a building, structure.^[5]
• 1614 – the building of a structure.^[5]
• 1622 – a setting upright; an upright position.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of erecting something, especially of constructing a building: the erection of a new bridge.^[10][4][5]
2. Something that has been built; a building or structure.^[10][5][8]
3. The swollen and stiff state of the penis or another organ of erectile tissue when filled with blood; also an erect penis.^[10][4][5]
4. The setting up or establishment of something, such as an office or an institution.^[4][5]
5. (obsolete, 1503–1661) Advancement in rank or dignity.^[5][2]

Word family

• nonerection

Related words

• erect
• erector
• erectile

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins