aphrodisiac
[af-ruh-dee-ze-ak, -diz-ee-ak]
- Also aph·ro·di·si·a·cal [af-ruh-duh-zahy-uh-kuh l, -sahy-] /ˌæf rə dəˈzaɪ ə kəl, -ˈsaɪ-/. arousing sexual desire.
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- an aphrodisiac food, drug, potion, or other agent that arouses sexual desire.
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Origin of aphrodisiac
1710–20; < Greek aphrodīsiakós relating to love or desire, equivalent to aphrodī́si(os) of Aphrodite + -akos -ac
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for aphrodisiac
Contemporary Examples
Expensive real estate is an aphrodisiac for girls like Claire, Walter notes.
Power is an aphrodisiac, Henry Kissinger famously said, but it is clearly also a great skin cream.
Historical Examples
Eringoes, the holly plant, which was considered to be an aphrodisiac.
Thomas OtwayThomas Otway
For I, too, wrote at first to amuse myself with aphrodisiac statements.
L-basJ. K. Huysmans
The use of cantharides and other aphrodisiac remedies to stimulate the sexual organs is a most pernicious practice.
Plain Facts for Old and YoungJohn Harvey Kellogg
Ishtar's aphrodisiac character, though it can scarcely be doubted, does not appear very clearly in the inscriptions.
It is sometimes taken as an abortifacient or given as an aphrodisiac, but whether it has any such action is open to question.
Aids to Forensic Medicine and ToxicologyW. G. Aitchison Robertson
aphrodisiac
- a drug, food, etc, that excites sexual desire
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- exciting or heightening sexual desire
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Word Origin
C18: from Greek aphrodisiakos, from aphrodisios belonging to Aphrodite
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for aphrodisiac
n.
1719, from Greek aphrodisiakos "inducing sexual desire," from aphrodisios, "pertaining to Aphrodite; sexual pleasure; a temple of Aphrodite," Greek goddess of love and beauty. As an adjective from 1830 (earlier was aphrodisical, 1719)
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
aphrodisiac
(ăf′rə-dĭz′ē-ăk′, -dē′zē-)- Arousing, increasing, or intensifying sexual desire.
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- An aphrodisiac drug or food.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
aphrodisiac
[(af-ruh-dee-zee-ak, af-ruh-diz-ee-ak)]
A substance or quality that excites sexual desire.
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Note
Aphrodisiacs are named after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.