erotic English · revision 39887

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1651|origins=grc ἔρως}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ɪˈɹɒtɪk/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ɪˈɹɑtɪk/, /əˈɹɑtɪk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|érotique]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(ODE 2010)^(MWU 2024) [[der|grc|ἐρωτικός|tr=erōtikós|t=caused by love, relating to love]],^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(MWU 2024) formed on [[m|grc|ἔρως|tr=érōs|t=sexual love]], with the suffix that became [[-ic]].^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) The OED takes it directly from the Greek adjective, comparing the French word.^(OED 2026) The Greek noun is related to the verb [[m|grc|ἐράω|tr=eráō|t=to love, desire]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966) which is of uncertain origin.^(Klein 1966)^(Barnhart 1988) The same noun was personified as [[Eros]], the god of love.^(MW Word Histories)^(Ayto 2005)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Relating to sexual love, amatory: 1651 in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) the 1650s in Etymonline;^(Etymonline) the OED's first quotation is from 1668.^(OED 2026) The longer form ''erotical'' is earlier, from the 1620s.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Merriam-Webster's ''Book of Word Histories'' explains that the love Eros stood for in early Greek art and literature was frankly sexual, which gave the adjective its meaning; only later did the god become the winged child of Roman and Valentine imagery.^(MW Word Histories) The early English uses describe writing and feeling concerned with love;^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) the stronger sense, tending to arouse sexual desire, is the main one in modern dictionaries.^(MWU 2024)^(Collins 2023)^(SOED 2002) As a noun the word meant an erotic poem from 1858, and later, from 1872, a doctrine or science of love, after Greek nouns in ''-ikē'' (art).^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) The plural [[erotica]], literature or art meant to arouse sexual desire, is a borrowing of the Greek neuter plural, recorded from 1854.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1620s – ''erotical''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1651 – ''erotic'', relating to sexual love.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1668 – the OED's first quotation.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1854 – ''erotica''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1858 – noun, an erotic poem.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1872 – noun, a doctrine of love.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Relating to, showing or arousing [[sexual]] [[desire]]: ''an erotic novel''.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Having or easily stirred by strong sexual desire.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person with strong sexual desires.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (rare) A doctrine or theory of [[love]].^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[erotically]]

+ * [[antierotic]]

+ * [[autoerotic]]

+ * [[homoerotic]]

+ * [[nonerotic]]

+ * [[pseudoerotic]]

+ * [[unerotic]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[erotica]]

+ * [[eroticize]]

+ * [[eroticism]]

+ * [[erotomania]]

+ * [[Eros]]

+ * [[erogenous]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Dictionary.com lists ''erotic'' among words easily confused with ''erratic'' and ''exotic''.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}