Pornography

Pronunciation

UK IPA: /pÉ”Ë(É¹)ËˆnÉ’É¡.É¹É™.fi/
US IPA: /pÉ”É¹ËˆnÉ‘.É¡É¹É™.fi/

Origin

From Ancient Greek Ï€Î¿ÏÎ½Î¿Î³ÏÎ¬Ï†Î¿Ï‚, from Ï€ÏŒÏÎ½Î· (pornÄ“, "prostitute") + Î³ÏÎ¬Ï†Ï‰ (graphÅ, "I write").

Full definition of pornography

Noun

pornography

(usually uncountable; plural pornographies)

The explicit depiction of sexual subject matter; a display of material of an erotic nature. from the mid-19th c.

"What is pornography to one man, is the laughter of genius to another." by D.H. Lawrence as cited on page 10's "Confining the Pornography Dragon" by The Cambridge Law Journal in issue 1980.

Was the pornography hetero or gay?
(usually humorous) The graphic, detailed, often gratuitous depiction of something.

In The Four Pillars of Wisdom, he devotes a well-deserved chapter to the financial press and its weakness for "financial pornography"â€”lurid coverage of star money managers. (Seattle Times, Auhust 4, 2002)

Derived terms