Aphrodisiacal

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Causing or tending to cause sexual desire or excitement in a person
2. Having effects that increase or stimulate sexual attraction or libido
3. Pertaining to substances or qualities that promote sexual arousal or desire

Etymology: Aphrodisiacal is simply aphrodisiac with an adjective-forming ending added to it, so the interesting history lies in the noun it grows from. "Aphrodisiac" traces back to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, whose name was turned into an adjective meaning "pertaining to Aphrodite" and then into a noun for things that stirred desire. Its ancestry is therefore mythological rather than medical: the goddess gave her name to the whole category of arousing substances and qualities. The ending "-al" has a long journey of its own. It descends from Latin "-alis", which turned nouns into adjectives meaning "relating to" or "having the nature of." The suffix passed through Old French in forms like "-al" and "-el" before arriving in Middle English as "-al," and English speakers have used it freely ever since to build adjectives from nouns.

Synonyms: erotic, sensual