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libido

[li-bee-doh]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR libido ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural li·bi·dos.

Psychoanalysis. all of the instinctual energies and desires that are derived from the id.

sexual instinct or sexual drive.

Origin of libido

1890–95; < Latin libīdō desire, willfulness, lust, akin to libēre to be pleasing

Related formsli·bid·i·nal

[li-bid-n-l] /lɪˈbɪd n l/, adjectiveli·bid·i·nal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for libido

lust, sexuality, eroticism, passion

Examples from the Web for libido

Historical Examples of libido

Libido is what earlier psychologists called "will" or "tendency."
Collected Papers on Analytical Psychology
C. G. Jung
Libido can perhaps be described as "effect," or "capacity for effect."
Collected Papers on Analytical Psychology
C. G. Jung
Libido is an expression taken from the theory of the emotions.
Group Psychology and The Analysis of The Ego
Sigmund Freud
Libido: Life-force, élan vital, or (restricted) the energy of the sex-instinct.
Outwitting Our Nerves
Josephine A. Jackson and Helen M. Salisbury
On the opposite page Pudicitia—in a very spirited attitude—is driving her spear through the throat of Libido.
Scenes and Characters of the Middle Ages
Edward Lewes Cutts

British Dictionary definitions for libido

libido

noun plural -dos

psychoanal psychic energy emanating from the id

sexual urge or desire

Derived Formslibidinal (lɪˈbɪdɪnəl), adjectivelibidinally, adverb

Word Origin for libido

C20 (in psychoanalysis): from Latin: desire

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for libido

n.

"psychic drive or energy, usually associated with sexual instinct," 1892, carried over untranslated in English edition of Krafft-Ebing's "Psychopathia Sexualis"; and used in 1909 in A.A. Brill's translation of Freud's "Selected Papers on Hysteria" (Freud's use of the term led to its popularity); from Latin libido "desire, lust," from libere "to be pleasing, to please," ultimately cognate with Old English lufu (see love (n.)).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

libido in Medicine

libido

[lĭ-bē′dō, -bī′-]

n. pl. li•bi•dos

The psychic and emotional energy associated with instinctual biological drives.

Sexual desire.

Manifestation of the sexual drive.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

libido in Culture

libido

[(luh-bee-doh)]

In Freudian psychology, the energy associated with the desires that come from the id.

Note

Libido is loosely used to mean sexual desire.

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.