pornography

[ pawr-nog-ruh-fee ]
See synonyms for pornography on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. sexually explicit videos, photographs, writings, or the like, whose purpose is to elicit sexual arousal.

Origin of pornography

1
1840–50; <Greek pornográph(os) writing about harlots (porno-, combining form of pórnē harlot + -graphos-graph) + -y3

Other words from pornography

  • por·no·graph·ic [pawr-nuh-graf-ik], /ˌpɔr nəˈgræf ɪk/, adjective
  • por·no·graph·i·cal·ly, adverb
  • an·ti·por·no·graph·ic, adjective
  • an·ti·por·nog·ra·phy, noun, adjective
  • non·por·no·graph·ic, adjective
  • un·por·no·graph·ic, adjective

Words that may be confused with pornography

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for pornography

pornography

/ (pɔːˈnɒɡrəfɪ) /


noun
  1. writings, pictures, films, etc, designed to stimulate sexual excitement

  2. the production of such material

Origin of pornography

1
C19: from Greek pornographos writing of harlots, from pornē a harlot + graphein to write
  • Sometimes (informal) shortened to: porn, porno

Derived forms of pornography

  • pornographer, noun
  • pornographic (ˌpɔːnəˈɡræfɪk), adjective
  • pornographically, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for pornography

pornography

Books, photographs, magazines, art, or music designed to excite sexual impulses and considered by public authorities or public opinion as in violation of accepted standards of sexual morality. American courts have not yet settled on a satisfactory definition of what constitutes pornographic material. (See obscenity.)

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.