penis

[pee-nis]

noun

Anatomy, Zoology.

plural

penises, penes 

1. the primary organ used for insemination and, in male mammals, urination.

penis

/ ˈpiːnɪs /

noun

1. the male organ of copulation in higher vertebrates, also used for urine excretion in many mammals

penis

plural

penises 

1. The male reproductive organ of mammals and some reptiles and birds. In mammals, the penis contains the urethra, which carries urine from the bladder and releases sperm during reproduction.

2. A similar organ found in the males of some invertebrate animals.

penis

1. The organ of the male reproductive system through which semen passes out of the body during sexual intercourse. The penis is also an organ of urination.

Other Word Forms

• penile adjective
• penial adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of penis¹

First recorded in 1685–95, from Latin pēnis “tail, penis”; akin to Greek péos, Sanskrit pásas

Word History and Origins

Origin of penis¹

C17: from Latin

Example Sentences

“My view is that it’s they who have betrayed us—insisting there are lesbians with penises and gay men with vaginas and that any straight person calling themselves nonbinary somehow belongs.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He told her he was 40 and asked if she liked older guys and whether she had seen a penis before, the indictment said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Upstairs, on the three floors of what were his family's luxury apartments, graffiti is scrawled on the walls – including drawings of penises in a living room and his daughter's bedroom.

Read more on BBC

Brain would then ask her to give him a massage, including an occasion where he brushed her hand over his erect penis.

Read more on BBC

The “small penis rule,” explained in layman’s terms in a 1998 New York Times story, floated into conversation again.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• member 
• weenie