phallus

noun

phal·​lus ˈfa-ləs How to pronounce phallus (audio)
plural phalli ˈfa-ˌlī How to pronounce phallus (audio)
-ˌlē
or phalluses
1
: a symbol or representation of the penis
2
: penis

Examples of phallus in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Contains a large red wooden phallus — a traditional Bhutanese symbol of protection against evil — and smoking. Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post, 5 Feb. 2024 The play, which Jacobs-Jenkins wrote assuming that nobody would ever produce it, was wild as all get-out, with dreamlike interludes involving watermelons, enormous phalluses, and musical flatulence. Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 8 Jan. 2024 The phallus is around 6.5 inches long but was probably once larger. Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 8 Mar. 2023 There is a residual tension in early representations of Ardhanarishvara, where Shiva is shown with an erect phallus, suggesting that the figure itself is still straining against resolution, striving for the division that creates desire and regeneration. Washington Post, 9 Nov. 2023 Those looking to start a family shouldn’t miss the Chimi Lhakhang fertility temple in Punakha, where women wishing for a baby come to be blessed with a strike on the head by a 10-inch wooden phallus. Chris Schalkx, Vogue, 4 Oct. 2023 The slightly surreal conclusion, which involves a gigantic red phallus used in a religious ceremony, verifies the director’s comic vision. Stephen Farber, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Sep. 2023 Not just subtle phalluses—say, the titular structure in Thimphu’s Clock Tower Square—but graphic and cartoonish wood carvings in tourist shops; detailed paintings around doorways; a fire-engine red cement statue standing four feet tall. Kaitlin Menza, Condé Nast Traveler, 18 July 2023 However, when the Roman phallus was compared to a wooden phallus object from the New Kingdom of Egypt, it was found to be missing some of the features that it would be expected to have if it were mounted onto a structure. Amarachi Orie, CNN, 20 Feb. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'phallus.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin, borrowed from Greek phallós "penis, representation of the penis," of uncertain origin

Note: The Greek word has generally been taken as an outcome of the western Indo-European etymon *bhel-, implicated in a wide range of names for things swollen or inflated, especially in Germanic (compare ball entry 1, bowl entry 1). Chantraine (Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque) suggests descent from *bhl̥-nó-, but then hesitates on the grounds that the word does not show the dialectal variation usual with resolution of *-ln-, there being no correspondent with a lengthened vowel *phālo- (compare Attic-Ionian stḗlē "pillar, stele," Lesbian and Thessalian stallā, from *stálnā). Chantraine then adduces ballíon "phallus," a word used by Herodotus that he suggests was borrowed from "Thraco-Phrygian" (thraco-phrygien), and reconstructs for phallós a form *bhol-i̯o-, a thematic derivative of *bhol-i-, in heteroclitic alteration with *bhol-(e)n-. G. Kroonen (Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, under *bul(l)an- "bull") proffers the same Indo-European reconstruction *bhl̥-no-. However, R. Beekes (Etymological Dictionary of Greek) follows E. Furnée (Die wichtigsten konsonantischen Erscheinungen des Vorgriechischen, p. 172), who considers features of this etymon (a variant with b, in the diminutive ballíon; the variant with single l phalēt-, phalês, as well as the suffix -ēt-) as evidence of a pre-Greek substratal word. Furnée also points to the close connection of phallós with the cult of Dionysus, which likely has pre-Greek roots.

First Known Use

circa 1613, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of phallus was circa 1613

Dictionary Entries Near phallus

Cite this Entry

“Phallus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/phallus. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

phallus

noun
phal·​lus ˈfal-əs How to pronounce phallus (audio)
plural phalli ˈfal-ˌī How to pronounce phallus (audio)
-ˌē
or phalluses
1
: a symbol or likeness of the male sex organ
2
: penis
phallic
ˈfal-ik
adjective

Medical Definition

phallus

noun
phal·​lus ˈfal-əs How to pronounce phallus (audio)
plural phalli ˈfal-ˌī How to pronounce phallus (audio) -ˌē How to pronounce phallus (audio) or phalluses
1
: penis
2
: the first embryonic rudiment of the vertebrate penis or clitoris

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