penis
penis Lexical Profile
penis Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The primary male organ of copulation in mammals and certain other vertebrates, which in placental mammals also contains the urethra and serves as the conduit for urination.
"The anatomy textbook provides a detailed diagram of the vascular tissues within the human penis."
Any analogous intromittent organ in male or hermaphroditic invertebrates used to transfer sperm during mating.
"Marine biologists noted that barnacles possess a remarkably long, extensible penis relative to their body size to reach neighboring individuals."
Word Nuance & Usage
Both the regular English plural 'penises' and the Latinate plural 'penes' are standard; 'penises' is standard in everyday and general clinical contexts, whereas 'penes' is largely restricted to technical zoological writing.
• Rhymes for penis
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 17th century as a medical term from Latin 'pēnis', originally meaning 'tail' and later by extension the male copulatory organ.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.