penetration

[ pen-i-trey-shuhn ]

/ ˌpɛn ɪˈtreɪ ʃən /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR penetration ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the act or power of penetrating.

mental acuteness, discernment, or insight: a scholar of rare penetration.

the obtaining of a share of a market for some commodity or service.

the extension, usually peaceful, of the influence of one nation or culture into the affairs of another.

a military attack that penetrates into enemy territory.

Gunnery. the depth to which a projectile goes into the target.

the measure of relative depth of field of a telescope or microscope, especially a binocular microscope.

Nearby words

Origin of penetration

First recorded in 1595–1605, penetration is from the Late Latin word penetrātiōn- (stem of penetrātiō). See penetrate, -ion

SYNONYMS FOR penetration

2. understanding, perception, discrimination, depth, profundity.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR penetration ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsnon·pen·e·tra·tion, nounpre·pen·e·tra·tion, nounself-pen·e·tra·tion, nountrans·pen·e·tra·tion, noun

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

Examples from the Web for penetration

Offense III.b: Sexual Misconduct that includes one or more of the following: penetration, violent physical force, or injury.
Is Sex Assault a Crime in the Ivy League?|Olivia Nuzzi|May 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The scenes of penetration are obscured with masking or blurring.
Japan’s Desperate Housewives Opting for Adulterous Online Dating|Angela Erika Kubo, Jake Adelstein|April 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But does penetration on camera translate to a realistic portrait of sex and sex addiction?
A Sex Addiction Expert Diagnoses Lars Von Trier’s ‘Nymphomaniac’|Lizzie Crocker|March 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The last thing they wanted was for the U.S. to learn the extent of their penetration of the NSA and the FBI in Hawaii.
Snowden’s Beijing Benefactors?|Gordon G. Chang|January 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST

According to Bowden and Offer, water heaters hit 50% penetration in Britain in 1967.
American Household Gadget Exceptionalism|Megan McArdle|February 7, 2013|DAILY BEAST
"Parisians pride themselves on their penetration," replied Samuel.
Samuel Brohl & Company|Victor Cherbuliez
But his penetration, which is wholly retrospective, acts later, and frustrates calculation.
The Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan|Honore de Balzac
But with penetration he sees what few renaissance critics had noted before--that allegory is of two varieties.
Rhetoric and Poetry in the Renaissance|Donald Lemen Clark
The reader soddens in the consciousness of his own penetration as the sardine, equally headless, soaks in oil.
Love in a Cloud|Arlo Bates
On the seventh day it required no penetration to see the change.
The Stillwater Tragedy|Thomas Bailey Aldrich

British Dictionary definitions for penetration

penetration

/ (ˌpɛnɪˈtreɪʃən) /

noun

the act or an instance of penetrating

the ability or power to penetrate

keen insight or perception

military an offensive manoeuvre that breaks through an enemy's defensive position

Also called: market penetration the proportion of the total number of potential purchasers of a product or service who either are aware of its existence or actually buy it

another name for depth of field

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 penetration

penetration

c.1600, "insight, shrewdness," from Latin penetrationem (nominative penetratio) "a penetrating or piercing," noun of action from past participle stem of penetrare (see penetrate). The sexual sense is attested from 1610s.

penetration

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of penetration

Examples from the Web for penetration

penetration

noun

penetration