# Word for female form of 'phallic'... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 10, 2000, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-female-form-of-phallic/19118 "2000-05-10T14:18:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2000, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-female-form-of-phallic/19118/21 "2000-05-11T18:09:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > the more proper Latinate word for the male symbol would be penile.\*\* _Penis_ in Latin doesn’t mean the male sex organ. _Penis_ means “tail” in Latin. It was occasionally used as a slang term for the male sex organ. The Latin word for the male sex organ was [mentula](http://www.notam.uio.no/~hcholm/altlang/ht/Latin.html). It was also called _membrum virile_. ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b19c9b/32.png) [@Big\_Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Jake)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2000, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-female-form-of-phallic/19118/22 "2000-05-11T19:39:36Z")
I’m with writefetus: “…try gyne as a prefix, as in gyneocentric” I’ve used the unofficial word “gynic” for this purpose, and people grasp its meaning immediately. ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b19c9b/32.png) [@Big\_Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Jake)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2000, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-female-form-of-phallic/19118/23 "2000-05-11T19:41:06Z")
I’m with writefetus: …try gyne as a prefix, as in gyneocentric I’ve used the unofficial word “gynic” for this purpose, and people grasp its meaning immediately. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2000, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-female-form-of-phallic/19118/24 "2000-05-11T23:24:12Z")
handy-- From [Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm): > [@](#): > > Main Entry: vul·va > Pronunciation: 'v&l-v& > Function: noun > Inflected Form(s): plural vul·vae /-"vE, -"vI/ > Etymology: New Latin, from Latin volva, vulva womb, female > genitals; akin to Sanskrit ulva womb and perhaps to Latin volvere to > roll – more at VOLUBLE > Date: circa 1577 > : the external parts of the female genital organs > - vul·val /'v&l-v&l/ or vul·var /-v&r, -"vär/ adjective and > [@](#): > > Main Entry: va·gi·na > Pronunciation: v&-'jI-n& > Function: noun > Inflected Form(s): plural va·gi·nae /-(")nE/; or -nas > Etymology: Latin, literally, sheath > Date: 1682 > 1 : a canal in a female mammal that leads from the uterus to the > external orifice of the genital canal > 2 : a canal that is similar in function or location to the vagina and occurs > in various animals other than mammals The vulva is the external parts, including the labia, the clitoris, and the opening to the vagina, and the vagina is the canal, nothing more. When describing something as being reminiscent of the female sex organs, such as Xena’s whatchamacallit, one generally is referring to something with an opening in it, not something sheathlike, so I stand by my use of the term “vulva”. ---
**Author:** ![Iolanthe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7bcc69/32.png) [@Iolanthe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iolanthe)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2000, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-female-form-of-phallic/19118/25 "2000-05-12T21:26:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > By the way, Iolanthe, I almost fell out of my chair when I read that song. Do you have a link to the full lyrics? > \*\* Indeed I do. But please, sit carefully, and move all drinks away from the computer. This thing is dangerously funny. Here is my attempt at a link: [http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~valkyrie/parody/xena.html](http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~valkyrie/parody/xena.html) Of course, if this doesn’t work, I’ll have to start a MPSIMS thread and post the whole thing (not copyrighted, shouldn’t be a problem. Right?) ---
**Author:** ![GabbaGabbaHey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f14d63/32.png) [@GabbaGabbaHey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GabbaGabbaHey)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2000, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-female-form-of-phallic/19118/26 "2000-05-14T03:55:54Z")
Vagillic? Clitoric? ---
**Author:** ![maralinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@maralinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maralinn)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2000, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-female-form-of-phallic/19118/27 "2000-05-14T20:59:36Z")
And on a related note, doesn’t it seem odd to use the word “horny” for females? Wouldn’t they get “cavey,” or something? ---
**Author:** ![PublicBlast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/779978/32.png) [@PublicBlast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PublicBlast)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2000, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-female-form-of-phallic/19118/28 "2000-05-14T23:18:52Z")
> [@](#): > > Does this mean that the New Age Music composer ‘Yonni’ [sic] actually named his weird self after the female sexual organ? I was in India when Yanni played a concert at the Taj Mahal. The double-meaning of his name, a homophone of the sanskrit “yoni,” was easily the most popular yet unpublished one-liner in the country at the time. 🙂 Not sophisticated, but just cheesy enough to make us all laugh. Akash ---
**Author:** ![dpr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dpr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dpr)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2000, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-female-form-of-phallic/19118/29 "2000-05-17T06:24:32Z")
FISSURE - (fissured, fissuring) - 1. a narrow opening produced by cleavage or separation of parts: a cleft. 2. act of cleaving. 3. the state of being cleft; cleavage 4. Anatomy a natural like division or groove between adjoing parts of like substance 5. to make fissures in; cleave; split 6. to open fissures; become split * * * Hey back off - I’ve still got more posts than Cecil!!! 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-female-form-of-phallic/19118.md?page=1)