aphrodisiac

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀφροδισιακός (aphrodisiakós, “venereal”), from Ἀφροδίσιος (Aphrodísios, “pertaining to Aphrodite”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æf.ɹoʊˈdi.zi.æk/, /æf.ɹoʊˈdɪ.zi.æk/

• Audio (US):

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• Hyphenation: aph‧ro‧di‧si‧ac

Adjective

aphrodisiac (not comparable)

1. Arousing or intensifying sexual desire.
   • 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 156:

     Cognac, with the addition of a little paprika and the yolk of an egg, is considered an effective aphrodisiac aid.

   • 2003, Hilda Hutcherson, “Sexual Enhancers”, in What Your Mother Never Told You about Sex, Perigee, →ISBN, pages 169–170:

     Throughout recorded history, people have searched for the perfect herb, drug, or food to increase sexual desire, arousal, and performance. In their quest, they've amassed an exhaustive list of substances that purportedly have aphrodisiac properties.

Antonyms

• antaphrodisiac
• anti-aphrodisiac

Translations

intensifying sexual desire

• Catalan: afrodisíac
• Danish: afrodisiakum (da)
• Esperanto: amorveka
• Finnish: lempeä nostattava
• French: aphrodisiaque (fr)
• German: aphrodisisch
• Greek: αφροδισιακός (el) (afrodisiakós)
• Icelandic: lostavekjandi m, kynorkuaukandi m, kynorkuaukandi m, lostaörvandi m
• Italian: afrodisiaco (it) m
• Japanese: 催淫の (さいいん-の, sai'in-no), 催淫性の (さいいんせい-の, sai'insei-no))
• Portuguese: afrodisíaco (pt)
• Romanian: afrodisiac
• Russian: афродизиак (ru) m (afrodiziak)
• Spanish: afrodisíaco (es), afrodisiaco (es)
• Turkish: afrodizyak (tr)

Noun

aphrodisiac (plural aphrodisiacs)

1. Something, generally a food or drug, having such an effect.

   Antonyms: see Thesaurus:anaphrodisiac

   • c. 1970, Henry Kissinger, quoted in The New York Times (28 October 1973)

     Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

   • 1989, “Funky Cold Medina”, in Lōc’ed After Dark, performed by Tone Lōc:

     This brother told me a secret on how to get more chicks / Put a little Medina in your glass, and the girls'll come real quick / It's better than any alcohol or aphrodisiac

Related terms

• aphrodisia
• aphrodisiacal
• aphrodisiomania
• aphrodisiomaniacal

Translations

food or drug

• Catalan: afrodisíac m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 春藥 / 春药 (zh) (chūnyào), 媚藥 / 媚药 (zh) (mèiyào), 壯陽藥 / 壮阳药 (zhuàngyángyào) (male)

• Czech: afrodiziakum n
• Danish: afrodisiakum (da) n
• Dutch: afrodisiacum (nl) n
• Finnish: lemmenruoka (food); lemmenjuoma (fi) (drink); lemmenrohto, lemmenlääke (drug); afrodisiaka (fi), afrodisiakki (fi)
• French: aphrodisiaque (fr) m
• German: Aphrodisiakum (de) n
• Greek: αφροδισιακό (el) n (afrodisiakó)
• Icelandic: ástalyf n, frygðarlyf n, kynorkulyf n, frygðarauki m
• Indonesian: afrodisiak (id)
• Italian: afrodisiaco (it) m
• Japanese: 媚薬 (ja) (biyaku), 催淫剤 (さいいんざい, sai'inzai)
• Korean: 춘약(春藥) (chunyak), 미약(媚藥) (ko) (miyak), 음약(淫藥) (ko) (eumyak), 최음제(催淫劑) (ko) (choeeumje), 강정제(強精劑) (gangjeongje)
• Polish: afrodyzjak (pl) m
• Portuguese: afrodisíaco (pt) m
• Romanian: afrodiziac (ro) n
• Russian: афродизиа́к (ru) m (afrodiziák)
• Spanish: afrodisíaco (es) m, afrodisiaco (es) m
• Swahili: mkuyati
• Swedish: afrodisiakum (sv) n
• Turkish: afrodizyak (tr)
• Ukrainian: афродизіа́к m (afrodyziák)

Derived terms

• anaphrodisiac
• antiaphrodisiac

Further reading

• aphrodisiac on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “aphrodisiac”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “aphrodisiac”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.