English
pornography
Pornography comes from French pornographie, from Ancient Greek πορνογράφος ‘pornographer, pornographic author’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *perh₂- ‘to sell’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*perh₂-‘to sell’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*pórnēreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπόρνη‘harlot’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEπορνογράφος‘pornographer, pornographic author’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentpornographie
- Englishearliest quotation 1973pornography
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*perh₂-‘to sell’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*pórnēreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπόρνη‘harlot’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEπορνογράφος‘pornographer, pornographic author’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentpornographie
- Englishearliest quotation 1973pornography
Earliest quotation: 1973, Thomas Pynchon, New York: Viking Press: “It's true," Vanya now, "look at the forms of…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *perh₂- ‘to sell’
Today it means
noun The explicit literary or visual depiction of sexual subject matter; any display of material of an erotic nature.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *perh₂- / pornography