English
phallus
Phallus comes from Latin phallus ‘membrum virile, phallus, or a figure thereof’, from Ancient Greek φαλλός ‘penis’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ‘to sound’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰel-1‘to sound’root named by Wiktionary
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφαλλός1phallós‘penis’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEphallus1‘membrum virile, phallus, or a figure thereof’
- Englishearliest quotation 1936phallus1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English phallus
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art: “The phallus had power to subdue the attacks of…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰel-Wiktionary, English phallus‘to sound’root named by Wiktionary
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφαλλόςWiktionary, English phallusphallós‘penis’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEphallusWiktionary, English phallus‘membrum virile, phallus, or a figure thereof’
- Englishearliest quotation 1936phallusWiktionary, English phallus. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art: “The phallus had power to subdue the attacks of…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ‘to sound’
bowl, ball, bell, bold, bull, flame, boil, blaze, bald, blizzard, bleach, bale, bolster, blur, budge, blush, sabha, blemish, bola, bolero, blithe, phlegm, blain, bleat, phlox, 72 more
Today it means
noun A penis, especially when erect.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “phallus”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- / phallus