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):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: aph‧ro‧di‧si‧ac

Adjective

aphrodisiac (not comparable)

1. Arousing or intensifying sexual desire.

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
• Spanish: afrodisíaco (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

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
• Swahili: mkuyati
• Swedish: afrodisiakum (sv) n
• Turkish: afrodizyak (tr)
• Ukrainian: афродизіа́к m (afrodyziák)

Derived terms

• anaphrodisiac
• antiaphrodisiac

 

See also

• Butea superba

Further reading

• aphrodisiac on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “aphrodisiac”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “aphrodisiac”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.