penis
Americannoun
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penises,
plural
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penes
plural
noun
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penises
plural
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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.
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A similar organ found in the males of some invertebrate animals.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of penis
First recorded in 1685–95, from Latin pēnis “tail, penis”; akin to Greek péos, Sanskrit pásas
Explanation
The penis is the male sexual organ. Boys and men and male animals all have penises. Kids and teens often giggle at the word penis, but it's just a word for a body part like "arm" or "leg." Well, a penis is a little different, since it's the organ males use for sex and urinating. Some men take a lot of pride in their penis, which in slang is most often called a dick. However, if you're talking about a dick with a parent or teacher, or you're writing about one in a paper, penis is the word you want to use.
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.
See Examples For:
The Gardasil 9 HPV vaccine protects against types of HPV that can cause cancers of the mouth, throat, vulva, vagina, penis and anus.
From Salon ● Feb. 22, 2026
She leads nutrition education at the Feed Real Institute, an online certificate program founded in 2015 by Balaram, who also runs a company that sells air-dried dog treats like bull penis and rabbit feet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 28, 2026
The gruesome trials often require celebrities to eat delicacies like kangaroo anus, crocodile penis and sheep semen, or be trapped with creatures such as snakes, cockroaches and rats.
From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2025
The conditions include the removal of breasts for transgender men, the removal of the penis and testes for transgender women, and having undergone continuous hormonal treatment for at least two years before applying.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 29, 2024
Webster’s had said that hypospadias was an abnormality of the penis.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Constantius, the Emperor, son of Constantine the Great,little inferior to his father, a worthy warrior, and good man, died the third of November: "Ex veteri Calendario penes me".
From Miscellanies Upon Various Subjects by John Aubrey
In Sir W. Burrell’s Sussex collections in the British Museum are copies of charters, “ex MSS. penes T. Aste,” with notices of curious seals appended, which I should be glad to be able to inspect.
From Notes and Queries, Number 15, February 9, 1850 by Various
In a medley, contained in a curious and ancient MS. cantus, penes J.G.
From Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, Volume 2 Consisting of Historical and Romantic Ballads, Collected in The Southern Counties of Scotland; with a Few of Modern Date, Founded Upon Local Tradition by Sir Walter Scott
Charm on a ring, olim penes W. Hamper, F.A.S.
From Notes and Queries, Number 59, December 14, 1850 by Various
This account of the Greene family is stated in a note to have been taken from a fine pedigree on vellum, penes T. Wotton, Gent.
From Notes and Queries, Number 13, January 26, 1850 by Various
Snake penises - hemipenes - have been studied for decades.
From BBC ● Dec. 14, 2022
“Any kid can have any type of body,” the presentation states, adding that boys can have vulvas and girls can have penises.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 1, 2022
I started going to twee pet shops for cow tracheae, bull penises and limited-ingredient-grain-free-single-source kibble.
From Salon ● Nov. 10, 2018
Sometimes I’ll say things like, “Yes dear, some people have clitorises and other people have penises, like Daddy.”
From Slate ● Sep. 21, 2018
There is an example in an infant described in which there were two penises, each about 1/2 inch long, and a divided scrotal sac 21 inches long.
From Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Walter L. (Walter Lytle) Pyle
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.
