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Examples of phallus in a Sentence
Word History
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.
circa 1613, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Dictionary Entries Near phallus
Cite this Entry
“Phallus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/phallus. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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More from Merriam-Webster on phallus
Nglish: Translation of phallus for Spanish Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about phallus
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