penetration

English

Etymology

From Middle English penetracioun, from Old French penetracïon, and its source, Latin penetrātiō, from the participle stem of penetrō (“pierce”, verb). Morphologically penetrate +‎ -ion

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɛnɪˈtɹeɪʃ(ə)n/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

  Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

penetration (countable and uncountable, plural penetrations)

1. The act of penetrating something.

   Any penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the offense.

2. Specifically, the insertion of the penis (or similar object) during sexual intercourse.
3. The act of penetrating a given situation with the mind or faculties; perception, discernment.
   • 1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter III, in Rob Roy. , volume II, Edinburgh: James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. ; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 46:

     […] my observations of her looks and actions became acutely sharpened, and that to a degree, which, notwithstanding my efforts to conceal it, could not escape her penetration.

   • 1859, Henry David Thoreau, A Plea for Captain John Brown‎:

     I have no respect for the penetration of any man who can read the report of that conversation, and still call the principal in it insane.

4. The act of progressing or moving forward through or into something.
   • 2024 January 30, Phil McNulty, “Nottingham Forest 1-2 Arsenal: Gunners in title race after they close gap to leaders Liverpool”, in BBC Sport‎:

     Arsenal lacked urgency and penetration in a lazy, lacklustre opening half, sucked in by Forest's strategy of sitting back in blocks of defence waiting to hit them on the counter.

5. (blackjack) A number or fraction that represents how many cards/decks will be dealt before shuffling, in contrast to the total number of cards/decks in play.
6. (marketing) The proportion of the target audience who buy or use the specified product or service.
   • 1950 March, “The Why and the Wherefore: Railway Electrification in Morocco”, in Railway Magazine, page 214:

     The electrification of the lines radiating from Casablanca originated with the policy of economic penetration and conciliation pursued by Marshal Lyautey for the pacification of Morocco.

Derived terms

Translations

Swedish

Noun

penetration c

1. penetration

Declension

Related terms

• penetrera (“penetrate”)

References

• penetration in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• penetration in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)