…is clitorides. Did you know that? It’s a fact!* OK OK, maybe not a fact so much as that’s how you’d pluralize it in Latin, and you’re supposed to say “clitorises” in English, which really is rather dull, is it not? Plus, “clitordes” lends itself to all kinds of fun derivations, such as “clitoridean.”
As an aside, but a not altogether unimportant one, dictionary.com defines clitoris as “the erectile organ of the vulva, homologous to the penis of the male.” But look up penis, and you’ll find nary a mention of the clitoris. Instead, the penis is defined as “the male organ of copulation and, in mammals, of urinary excretion.”
Why is it that the clitoris is defined in terms of the penis, but the penis is defined in terms of itself?
*Note: Wikipedia link is NSFW, since it’s a page defining clitoris, and contains pictures of same.
Somehow, I didn't know the singulars of the labia. Labium majus and labium minus, of course!
Words, learning, and vaginas: Three of my favorite things, TOGETHER AT LAST!