phallus

Forms

phallus m (genitive phallī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek φαλλός (phallós, “phallus”),^[2][3][1][4] which Wiktionary takes to be likely from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to blow, swell up”), comparing follis “bag”.^[1] Köbler and Etymonline also connect it with this root.^[5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Arnobius, for the figure of the male member carried about at the festival of Bacchus as a symbol of the generative power of nature.^[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

Augustine mentions it in the City of God in the same cultic sense.^[2][6] Conte also gives the sense “male member” itself.^[6] English took the word from Latin in the 1610s for an image of the penis.^[4]

Timeline

• 297–310 AD – Arnobius uses it for the figure carried at the festival of Bacchus.^[2][3][5]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine mentions it in the City of God.^[2][6][5]
• 1610s – English borrows phallus for an image of the penis.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. An image of the male member carried in the processions of the festival of Bacchus, as a symbol of the generative power of nature.^[2][3]
2. The male member, penis.^[6][1]

Word family

• triphallus

Related words

• ithyphallicus
• phallicus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier