ithyphallic

pronunciation

How to pronounce ithyphallic in British English: UK [ˌɪθɪ'fælɪk]word uk audio image

How to pronounce ithyphallic in American English: US [ˌɪθɪ'fælɪk] word us audio image

Word Origin

ithyphallic
1610s, "poem in ithyphallic meter," from Greek ithyphallos "phallos carried in the festivals," from ithys "straight" + phallos "erect penis" (see phallus). As an adjective from 1795. The meter was that of the Bacchic hymns, which were sung in the rites during which such phalloses were carried. Thus, in Victorian times, the word also meant "grossly indecent" (1864).