penis

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpiː.nɪs/ (UK); /ˈpi.nɪs/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin pēnis (“tail; penis”), earlier *pesnis,^[2][3][4] perhaps through French pénis,^[2] from Proto-Indo-European *pes-, usually said to have meant penis originally,^[3][2] source also of Greek πέος (péos), Sanskrit पसस् (pásas) and probably Old English fæsl, offspring.^[3][5] De Vaan argues from Latin pēnītus, having a tail, that tail was the original Latin meaning.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The male organ of copulation: the 1570s in Etymonline, after use as a Latin word in English in the 1560s;^[3] 1676 in Barnhart and the OED.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Applied to the copulatory organs of male animals generally, it is in the OED from 1676.^[6] The Latin plural is penes, and the adjective penial.^[3] Penis envy is attested in psychological writing by 1922.^[3]

Timeline

• 1560s – as a Latin word in English.^[3]
• 1570s – the English word.^[3]
• 1676 – in Barnhart and the OED.^[2]
• 1922 – penis envy.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The male organ of copulation in higher vertebrates, in mammals also used for passing urine.
2. Any of various copulatory organs of male invertebrates.

Word family

• penile
• penis envy

Related words

• glans penis
• pencil
• phallus

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press