coitus
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
- coital adjective
Etymology
Origin of coitus
First recorded in 1705–15; from Latin: “a coming together, uniting, sexual intercourse,” equivalent to coi- ( coition ) + -tus suffix of verbal action
Explanation
Coitus is a word for sex, specifically vaginal sex that includes penetration and ejaculation. A couple has achieved coitus when they've had sex. This word may sound a little unusual to you because it's an old technical term for sex. Very few friends sitting around talking about sex will describe it as coitus, unless they're talking about The Big Lebowski, a movie that makes humorous mention of this old-fashioned term. Coitus may remind you of copulation and fornication: two other fancy words for sex.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Because of the risk involved, male tarantulas use hook-like structures on their first pair of legs to hold the female during coitus, according to Monjaraz Ruedas.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 25, 2025
But increasingly, cockroach coitus is going really, weirdly wrong, and is contributing to roach populations in some places that are more difficult to vanquish with conventional pesticides.
From New York Times • May 27, 2022
But bedbug mating only occurs once a week, so Siva-Jothy wondered whether the females only primed their immune response right before coitus, much the way dogs salivate in anticipation of food.
From Science Magazine • Aug. 22, 2011
When both partners are fertile, but coitus or conception is prevented by some structural abnormality, artificial insemination may be a simple means to parenthood.
From Time Magazine Archive
As most pregnancies occur in married women, we cannot base any calculations on a single act of coitus.
From The Four Epochs of Woman's Life; a study in hygiene by Galbraith, Anna M. (Anna Mary)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
