Aphrodisiac
Also, aphrodisiacal
[af-ruh-duh-zahy-uh-kuh l, -sahy-] /ˌæf rə dəˈzaɪ ə kəl, -ˈsaɪ-/ (Show IPA). arousing sexual desire.
an aphrodisiac food, drug, potion, or other agent that arouses sexual desire.
Contemporary Examples
Power is an aphrodisiac, Henry Kissinger famously said, but it is clearly also a great skin cream.
Guess Who’s 60 Now? Susan Cheever June 26, 2009
Expensive real estate is an aphrodisiac for girls like Claire, Walter notes.
This Week’s Hot Reads: Feb. 4, 2013 Jimmy So, G. Clay Whittaker, Tunku Varadarajan February 3, 2013
Historical Examples
The mollusca in general, and testaceous animals in particular, have been considered as endowed with aphrodisiac properties.
Aphrodisiacs and Anti-aphrodisiacs: Three Essays on the Powers of Reproduction John Davenport
Eringoes, the holly plant, which was considered to be an aphrodisiac.
Thomas Otway Thomas Otway
It is sometimes taken as an abortifacient or given as an aphrodisiac, but whether it has any such action is open to question.
Aids to Forensic Medicine and Toxicology W. G. Aitchison Robertson
For I, too, wrote at first to amuse myself with aphrodisiac statements.
L-bas J. K. Huysmans
Those three dead men on the thirteenth floor of that office building had acted like an aphrodisiac on Wilson Lamb.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942 Various
The use of cantharides and other aphrodisiac remedies to stimulate the sexual organs is a most pernicious practice.
Plain Facts for Old and Young John Harvey Kellogg
It is said to be cordial, stomachic, tonic, and aphrodisiac.
Cooley’s Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades…, Sixth Edition, Volume I Arnold Cooley
There appears to be no evidence in the case of either the lower animals or the human subject that the drug is an aphrodisiac.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3 Various
noun
a drug, food, etc, that excites sexual desire
adjective
exciting or heightening sexual desire
n.
1719, from Greek aphrodisiakos “inducing sexual desire,” from aphrodisios, “pertaining to Aphrodite; sexual pleasure; a temple of Aphrodite,” Greek goddess of love and beauty. As an adjective from 1830 (earlier was aphrodisical, 1719)
aphrodisiac aph·ro·dis·i·ac (āf’rə-dĭz’ē-āk’, -dē’zē-)
adj.
Arousing, increasing, or intensifying sexual desire. n.
An aphrodisiac drug or food.
aph’ro·di·si’a·cal (-dĭ-zī’ĭ-kəl) adj.
aphrodisiac [(af-ruh-dee-zee-ak, af-ruh-diz-ee-ak)]
A substance or quality that excites sexual desire.
Note: Aphrodisiacs are named after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love.
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