Etymograph

English

phallus

Phallus comes from Latin phallus ‘membrum virile, phallus, or a figure thereof’, from Ancient Greek φαλλός ‘penis’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ‘to sound’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰel-‘to sound’root as named
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφαλλόςphallós‘penis’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEphallus‘membrum virile, phallus, or a figure thereof’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1936same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰel-‘to sound’root as named
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφαλλόςphallós‘penis’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEphallus‘membrum virile, phallus, or a figure thereof’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1936same form

Earliest quotation: 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art: “The phallus had power to subdue the attacks of…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ‘to sound’

bowl, ball, bell, bold, bull, flame, boil, blaze, bald, blizzard, bleach, bale, bolster, blur, budge, blush, sabha, blemish, bola, bolero, blithe, phlegm, blain, bleat, phlox, 74 more

Today it means

noun A penis, especially when erect.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- / phallus

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