penis

English

Etymology

From late 17th century. Learned borrowing from Latin pēnis (“tail, penis”), from Proto-Indo-European *pes- (“penis”). Displaced native English pintle, tarse.

Pronunciation

• enPR: pē'nis
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpiː.nɪs/,
  • (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpi.nɪs/,

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːnɪs

English Wikipedia has an article on:

penis

Wikipedia

Wikimedia Commons has related media at:

Penis

Noun

penis (plural penises or penes)

1. (anatomy) The male reproductive organ used for sexual intercourse that in the human male and some other mammals is also used for urination; the tubular portion of the male genitalia (excluding the scrotum).

   The female clitoris is homologous to the male penis.

   • Robin Williams:

     See, the problem is that God gives men a brain and a penis, and only enough blood to run one at a time.

   • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 129:

     The penis is the perfectly obvious and natural symbol of instantaneous time.

   • 1994 January 24, Lisa Kemler, Newsweek, page 19:

     A life is more valuable than a penis.

   • 1998, Collecting Mark Twain: A History and Three New Paths, Kevin Mac Donnell, Firsts Magazine, Inc.

     By early November, the sheets of HUCK FINN were being forwarded for binding, and within a week or two it was discovered that the illustration at page 283 had been altered in the master plate to make it appear as if Uncle Silas was exposing his penis. Twain would be amused to know that this may be the first time the word "penis" has ever been used to describe the alteration to this plate; the euphemisms and delicate phrasings employed by previous bibliographers to avoid stating the obvious are impressive.

   • 2016 October 16, “Third Parties”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 3, episode 26, John Oliver (actor), via HBO:

     Okay, hold on, because “stimulus package of your dreams” sounds like how Paul Krugman describes his penis.

Usage notes

The hyperforeign Latinate penii is occasionally used as the plural.

Synonyms

• tarse, pintle
• See also Thesaurus:penis

Hypernyms

• intromittent organ (biology)
• primordial phallus, genital tubercle
• genitals

Meronyms

• glans

Derived terms

Related terms

• penectomy
• penile

Translations

See also

• clitoris
• erection
• member
• phallic
• phallus

Anagrams

• Espin, Pines, Snipe, epsin, pines, snipe, spine

Afrikaans

Afrikaans Wikipedia has an article on:

penis

Wikipedia ^af

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pēnis.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

penis (plural penisse)

1. (anatomy) penis

Derived terms

• penisbeen

Albanian

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin pēnis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

penis m (plural penisë, definite penisi, definite plural penisët)

1. (anatomy) penis

   A ka rëndësi madhësia e penisit tim?

   Does the size of my penis matter?

Declension

Synonyms

• luc m (childish)
• karuc m (colloquial, slightly vulgar)
• kar m (vulgar)
• dërrasë f (vulgar)
• hu m (vulgar)

Azerbaijani

Azerbaijani Wikipedia has an article on:

penis

Wikipedia ^az

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin pēnis (“tail, penis”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: pe‧nis

Noun

penis (definite accusative penisi, plural penislər)

1. penis

Declension

Synonyms

• (slang) duduş
• (vulgar) sik

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

Verb

penis

1. second-person singular present subjunctive of penar

Czech

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin pēnis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Rhymes: -ɪs

Noun

penis m inan

1. (anatomy) penis

   Synonyms: pyj, šulin, čurák, péro, pinďour, pindík, pinďa, pinďourek, bimbas, lulánek, pohlavní úd

Declension

References

Further reading

• penis in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• penis in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
• penis in Internetová jazyková příručka

Danish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin penis (“tail, penis”), from Proto-Indo-European *pes- (“penis”).

Noun

penis c (singular definite penissen, plural indefinite penisser)

1. (anatomy) penis

Declension

Synonyms

Derived terms

• penishoved n

References

• “penis” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:

penis

Wikipedia ^nl

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin pēnis (“tail, penis”), from Proto-Indo-European *pes-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpeː.nɪs/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pe‧nis

Noun

penis m (plural penissen, diminutive penisje n)

1. penis

Derived terms

Anagrams

• peins

Esperanto

Verb

penis

1. past of peni
   • 1910, E. L. Kearney (tr.), “1. Mirinda Falego!”, in La Aventuroj de Alicio en Mirlando‎, Edinburgh: Turnbull and Spears, translation of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll:

     Kaj ŝi penis imagi al si la aspekton kiun kandelflamo havas post kiam oni estingis ĝin!

     And she tried to imagine the look that the flame of a candle has after it is exinguished.

Estonian

Noun

penis

1. inessive singular of peni

Finnish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin pēnis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpenis/,
• IPA^(key): /ˈpeːnis/, (dated or jocular)
• Rhymes: -enis, -eːnis
• Syllabification^(key): pe‧nis

Noun

penis

1. (anatomy) penis

   Synonym: siitin

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

• “penis”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-03

Anagrams

• pesin, sepin

Indonesian

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin pēnis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: pè‧nis

Noun

pènis (first-person possessive penisku, second-person possessive penismu, third-person possessive penisnya)

1. (anatomy) penis

Synonyms

• (penis): anu, zakar (dated), burung (childish), titit (childish, mildly vulgar), kontol (vulgar), peler (more vulgar), pelir

Further reading

• “penis” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Interlingua

Noun

penis (plural penises)

1. penis
   • 1955, Pediatrics, volume 15, page 323:

     […] e se distingueva per absentia o hypoplasia del penis, e 6 casos de complete absentia de gonades del un o del altere sexo.

     and is characterised by the absence of hypoplasia of the penis, and 6 cases of complete absence of the gonads of either sex.

   • 1960, Annals of internal medicine, volume 52, page 1112:

     Durante le phase de polycythemia le patiente disveloppava priapismo (que es un complication thrombotic rar de iste morbo). Isto requireva le amputation del penis.

     During the phase of polycythemia the patient developed priapism (which is a rare thrombotic complication of this disease). This required the amputation of the penis.

   • 2000 April 29, STAN MULAIK (Stanley Mulaik), “Le Professor e Le Lunatico”, in sci.lang‎ (Usenet):

     Per le annos, le condition mental de Capitano Minor lentemente pejorava se. Su delusions nocturnal cresceva. Finalmente in un acto de desperation a causa de su practica del masturbation desde un puero, Minor usava un cultello permittite a ille pro acutiar su penciles e plumas a amputar su proprie penis, le organo offensive.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *peznis, from Proto-Indo-European *pes-ni-s, from *pes-. Cognate with Ancient Greek πέος (péos), Sanskrit पसस् (pásas), Old English fæsl.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpeː.nis/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpe.nis/,

Noun

pēnis m (genitive pēnis); third declension

1. (archaic) tail

   Synonym: cauda

2. (anatomy) the penis, male sexual organ
3. (figuratively) lust
4. genitive singular of pēnis
5. vocative singular of pēnis

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

Derived terms

Descendants

References

• penis in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• penis in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

Latvian

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin pēnis.

Noun

penis m (2 declension)

1. penis

Declension

Synonyms

• dzimumloceklis

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:

penis

Wikipedia ^no

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin penis.

Noun

penis m (definite singular penisen, indefinite plural peniser, definite plural penisene)

1. (anatomy) a penis

References

• “penis” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:

penis

Wikipedia ⁿⁿ

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin penis.

Noun

penis m (definite singular penisen, indefinite plural penisar, definite plural penisane)

1. (anatomy) a penis

References

• “penis” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin penis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɛ.ɲis/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛɲis
• Syllabification: pe‧nis

Noun

penis m inan

1. penis

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:prącie

Declension

Further reading

• penis in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• penis in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Alternative forms

• пенис (Moldovan Cyrillic spelling)

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin penis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

penis n (plural penisuri)

1. (anatomy) penis

   Synonyms: (slang) miel; (slang) puță; (slang) sculă

Declension

Synonyms

• pulă (vulgar, slang)

Related terms

• erecție
• prepuț
• testicul
• vagin

Further reading

• penis in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin penis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pěːnis/
• Hyphenation: pe‧nis

Noun

pénis m (Cyrillic spelling пе́нис)

1. (anatomy) penis

   Tijelo penisa je građeno od dva kavernozna i spužvastog tkiva. Ove dvije vrste tkiva čine erektilno tijelo penisa. (Ijekavian)

   Telo penisa je građeno od dva kavernozna i spužvastog tkiva. Ove dve vrste tkiva čine erektilno telo penisa. (Ekavian)

   The body of the penis is formed of two cavernous and spongy tissues. These two forms of tissues form the erectile body of the penis.

Declension

Slovak

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pēnis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

penis m inan (genitive singular penisu, nominative plural penisy, genitive plural penisov, declension pattern of dub)

1. (anatomy) penis

Declension

References

• “penis”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024

Slovene

Slovene Wikipedia has an article on:

penis

Wikipedia ^sl

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin pēnis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /péːnis/

Noun

pẹ̑nis m inan

1. (anatomy) penis

Inflection

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Further reading

• “penis”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran

Swedish

Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:

penis

Wikipedia ^sv

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin pēnis.

Noun

penis c

1. (anatomy) penis

Usage notes

Anatomical terms for body parts are sometimes uninflected in the definite in medical jargon (and language riffing on medical jargon), being treated similar to proper nouns. See the declension table.

Declension

Derived terms

See also

• kuk (has synonyms ordered by register)
• boll
• erektion
• fallos
• könshår (“pubic hair”)
• ollon (“glans”)
• pung (“scrotum”)
• skaft (“shaft”)
• svällkropp (“corpus cavernosum”)
• testikel (“testicle”)
• urinrör (“urethra”)
• vagina

References

• penis in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• penis in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• penis in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Turkish

Turkish Wikipedia has an article on:

penis

Wikipedia ^tr

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin pēnis (“tail, penis”), from Proto-Indo-European *pes- (“penis”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pe‧nis