penetration

penetration

See also: pénétration

English

Etymology

From Middle French pénétration, and its source, Latin penetrātiō, from the participle stem of penetro (“pierce”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɛnɪˈtɹeɪʃ(ə)n/

  Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

penetration (countable and uncountable, plural penetrations)

1. The act of penetrating something. [from 15th c.]

   Any penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the offense.

2. Specifically, the insertion of the penis (or similar object) during sexual intercourse. [from 17th c.]
3. The act of penetrating a given situation with the mind or faculties; perception, discernment. [from 17th c.]
   • 1817, Walter Scott, Rob Roy, XVI:

     my observations of her looks and actions became acutely sharpened, and that to a degree which, notwithstanding my efforts to conceal it, could not escape her penetration.

4. (blackjack) A number or fraction that represents how many cards/decks will be dealt before shuffling, in contrast to the total number of cards/decks in play.

Derived terms

• double penetration
• interpenetration
• nonpenetration
• overpenetration
• penetration test
• prepenetration
• repenetration

 

Translations

act of penetrating

Catalan: penetració (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 滲透 (zh), 渗透 (zh) (shèntòu) Esperanto: penetro Finnish: läpäisy, lävistys (fi) French: pénétration (fr) f Galician: penetración (gl) f German: Penetration (de) f Greek: διείσδυση (el) f (dieísdysi)

Hungarian: behatolás (hu) Indonesian: penetrasi (id) Italian: penetrazione Japanese: 浸透 (ja) (しんとう, shintō) Latin: penetratio Portuguese: penetração (pt) f Russian: проника́ние (ru) n (pronikánije), проникнове́ние (ru) n (proniknovénije) Spanish: penetración f Swedish: genomträngning