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penis envy

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noun Psychoanalysis.
  1. the repressed wish of a female to possess a penis.
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Origin of penis envy

First recorded in 1920–25
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for penis envy

penis envy

noun
  1. psychoanal a Freudian concept in which envy of the penis is postulated as the cause for some of the characteristics found in women
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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
penis envy in Culture

penis envy

In Freudian theory, the repressed desire of females to possess a penis.

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Note

Penis envy is also used generally to mean a supposed female envy of men.
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.