penis English · revision 10289

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1570s|origins=la penis|origins=ine-pro *pes-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈpiː.nɪs/ ''(UK)''; /ˈpi.nɪs/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|pēnis|t=tail; penis]], earlier *pesnis,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) perhaps through French pénis,^(Barnhart 1988) from PIE *pes-, usually said to have meant penis originally,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) source also of Greek [[m|grc|πέος|tr=péos]], Sanskrit [[m|sa|पसस्|tr=pásas]] and probably Old English fæsl, offspring.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) De Vaan argues from Latin pēnītus, having a tail, that tail was the original Latin meaning.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The male organ of copulation: the 1570s in Etymonline, after use as a Latin word in English in the 1560s;^(Etymonline) 1676 in Barnhart and the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Applied to the copulatory organs of male animals generally, it is in the OED from 1676.^(OED 1989) The Latin plural is penes, and the adjective penial.^(Etymonline) ''Penis envy'' is attested in psychological writing by 1922.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1560s – as a Latin word in English.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1570s – the English word.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1676 – in Barnhart and the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1922 – penis envy.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The male organ of [[copulation]] in higher vertebrates, in mammals also used for passing urine.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Any of various copulatory organs of male invertebrates.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[penile]]

+ * [[penis envy]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[glans penis]]

+ * [[pencil]]

+ * [[phallus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}