Etymology

From , a diminutive of uncertain origin, probably from , in reference to its being covered by the labia minora.

The related noun form has a second meaning of "a key, a latch or hook (to close a door)." Wooden pegs were the original keys; a connection also revealed in Latin and (see close). Some medical sources give a supposed Greek verb literally "to be inclined (toward pleasure)" (compare German slang ‘der Kitzler’ "clitoris," literally "the tickler"), related to Greek , a variant of , related to , from the same root as . But many sources take literally as Greek "little hill." The Italian anatomist Mateo Renaldo Colombo (1516–1559), professor at Padua, claimed to have discovered it (De re anatomica, 1559, p. 243). He called it amor Veneris, vel dulcedo "the love or sweetness of Venus." Slang abbreviation clit first attested 1960s.

Noun

1. A small sensitive elongated erectile organ at the anterior part of the vulva in female mammals, homologous with the penis.