oral English · revision 6692

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1625|origins=la os}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈo(ː)ɹəl/; /ˈɔː.ɹəl/ ''(UK)''; /ˈoɹəl/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|ōrālis]], from [[la|os|alt=ōs|t=mouth]] (genitive ōris),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) perhaps reinforced by French oral,^(Barnhart 1988) from PIE [[ine-pro|*h₁eh₃os-|alt=*os-|t=mouth]], also the source of Sanskrit [[m|sa|आस्|tr=ās|t=mouth]] and Old Norse [[m|non|óss|t=river mouth]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Uttered by the mouth, spoken: the 1620s in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) 1625 in Barnhart, as done with the mouth,^(Barnhart 1988) and 1628 for spoken, of poetry delivered by word of mouth.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) ''Orally'' is from 1608.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Of or relating to the mouth as part of the body is from 1656, the 1650s in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Etymonline notes that os, mouth, became hard to tell apart in sound from os, bone, so that colloquial Latin turned to [[m|la|bucca|t=cheek]] for the mouth.^(Etymonline) The noun, an oral examination, is American from 1876.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) Teaching the deaf by lip-reading and speech is ''oral'' from 1880.^(OED 1989) The psychological sense, of the mouth as the focus of infant sexuality, as in ''oral fixation'', is from 1910,^(Etymonline) and the sexual sense is first recorded in 1948, in Kinsey.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1608 – orally.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1628 – spoken.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1656 – of the mouth.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1876 – an oral examination.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1910 – in psychology.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1948 – oral sex.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Spoken rather than written; [[verbal]]: ''an oral agreement''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of or relating to the [[mouth]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Taken or given through the mouth: ''an oral vaccine''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(psychology)'' Of the first stage of infant development, when pleasure centres on the mouth.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of sexual activity involving the mouth.^(OED 1989)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An examination in which questions and answers are spoken.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[orally]]

+ * [[orality]]

+ * [[oralism]]

+ * [[oralist]]

+ * [[nonoral]]

+ * [[preoral]]

+ * [[postoral]]

+ * [[suboral]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[oracy]]

+ * [[orifice]]

+ * [[oracle]]

+ * [[orator]]

+ * [[osculate]]

+ * [[oscillate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}