Phallic means resembling or related to a penis: people often talk about phallic shapes, like the Washington Monument. When you see phallic, think penis. Calling something phallic means it's penis-like in some way. In some cases, that means it has creative power, like how a penis, through sex, creates new life.

What does phallic stand for?

1 : of, relating to, or resembling a penis. 2 : of, relating to, or characterized by the stage of psychosexual development in psychoanalytic theory following the anal stage and during which a child becomes interested in his or her own sexual organs — compare anal sense 2, genital sense 3, oral sense 3.

What is the origin of the word phallic?

The term is a loanword from Latin phallus, itself borrowed from Greek φαλλός (phallos), which is ultimately a derivation from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰel- "to inflate, swell".