# Prick (slang)
**Prick** is an English slang word that in its taboo uses denotes the penis and, as a term of abuse, a contemptible, unpleasant, or stupid man; it derives from the ordinary English noun *prick*, "a sharp point or puncture", from [Old English](https://www.edgepedia.org/old-english) *prica* (dot, point, small portion of space or time)[1](https://www.etymonline.com/word/prick). Modern dictionaries label both slang senses vulgar or offensive[2](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/prick), and the word is classified as a four-letter taboo word[3](https://students.apexcollegeofnursingsciences.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/The_Oxford_companion_to_the_English_language.pdf).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Origin | Old English *prica* (noun) "sharp point, puncture; minute mark; dot"; Old English *prician* (verb) "to pierce with a sharp point"; cognate with Dutch and Low German *prik*[1](https://www.etymonline.com/word/prick) |
| Sexual slang sense | Earliest recorded use for "penis" in the 1590s; the OED records the first use in 1592[1](https://www.etymonline.com/word/prick) • [4](https://content.fimsschools.com/academy.fims.org.pk/Dictionary%20of%20Contemporary%20Slang%2C%203rd%20edition.pdf) |
| Sexual verb use | The verb *prick* used figuratively for sexual intercourse appears in Chaucer, late 14th century[1](https://www.etymonline.com/word/prick) |
| Status change | Standard English for "penis" until around 1700, when it was reclassified as vulgar and demoted to slang[5](https://idiomorigins.org/origin/prick) |
| Insulting sense | As a term of abuse for a man, attested by 1929; the contemptuous use "a silly prick" dates from the late 19th century[1](https://www.etymonline.com/word/prick) • [5](https://idiomorigins.org/origin/prick) |
| Derived term | *Prick-teaser* is attested from 1958[1](https://www.etymonline.com/word/prick) |
## Etymology
The noun goes back to [Middle English](https://www.edgepedia.org/middle-english) *prikke*, from Old English *prica*, a word for a sharp point, a puncture, a minute mark made by piercing, or a very small portion of space or time. It is a common North Sea Germanic word, appearing as [Low German](https://www.edgepedia.org/low-german) *prik* "point", Middle Dutch *prick*, Dutch *prik*, and Swedish *prick* "point, dot", of unknown ultimate origin[1](https://www.etymonline.com/word/prick). The verb, Middle English *priken*, from Old English *prician* "to pierce with a sharp point", traces to West Germanic *prikojan* and likewise has an uncertain origin[1](https://www.etymonline.com/word/prick). Wiktionary reconstructs Proto-West Germanic *prikō* and suggests a possible, unproven link to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to scrape, scratch, rub"[6](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prick).
## Semantic history
**Before slang.** In Middle English and early modern English the word carried many neutral senses: a pointed weapon or dagger (attested from the 1550s), a point marking a stage in progression, the highest point or acme, and a moment in time, especially the moment of death (*prike of deth*)[1](https://www.etymonline.com/word/prick). The image of the goad produced the proverb *kick against the pricks*, "to aggravate a danger by foolish resistance", first in the 1382 Wycliffe translation of Acts ix.5, rendering Latin *stimulo calcitre*; the same image appeared in the Wycliffe Bible of 1384 at 2 Corinthians xii.7[1](https://www.etymonline.com/word/prick).
**Sexual senses.** The verb *prick* was used figuratively for sexual intercourse in Chaucer in the late 14th century[1](https://www.etymonline.com/word/prick), and the British-American Dictionary dates the noun sense "penis" to the 16th century, a shift the Shorter Slang Dictionary explains from the image of a thorn and the idea of penetration[7](https://british-american-dictionary.com/bad-words/prick-uk/) • [4](https://content.fimsschools.com/academy.fims.org.pk/Dictionary%20of%20Contemporary%20Slang%2C%203rd%20edition.pdf). The earliest recorded noun use for "penis" is the 1590s, and Shakespeare puns on it[1](https://www.etymonline.com/word/prick). In the 16th and 17th centuries the phrase *my prick* could serve as a term of endearment by "immodest maids" for their boyfriends[1](https://www.etymonline.com/word/prick).
**The insult.** The word had been ordinary standard English for "penis" until around 1700, when dictionaries and usage reclassified it as vulgar and demoted it to slang status[5](https://idiomorigins.org/origin/prick). As a term of abuse applied to a man, it is attested by 1929[1](https://www.etymonline.com/word/prick); a thesis citing Geoffrey Hughes's *Swearing: A Social History of Foul Language, Oaths and Profanity in English* gives 1928 as the date the word appeared as an insult[8](https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/22690/1/Suzanne%20Pickles%20Thesis.pdf). The contemptuous use, in phrases like *a silly prick*, is dated to the late 19th century by the Idiom Origins site[5](https://idiomorigins.org/origin/prick). *Prick-teaser* is attested from 1958[1](https://www.etymonline.com/word/prick), and Eric Partridge noted the term in the supplement to his *Dictionary of Slang* (1961)[9](https://dougslangandlit.blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/mind-your-language.pdf).
## Scots usage
In Scots, *prik* was a workaday noun for anything that pierces: a spike, needle, skewer, pin, or spear point, and an upright spike such as the iron point on which a head was displayed, or a spire or pinnacle of a building[10](https://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/prik_n). It also named the pointer of a sun-dial, a type of archery target with a small mark at its center, and the central supporter of the standard Linlithgow firlot, a dry-goods measure prescribed in 1587, hence *prik-mesure* or *prik-firlot*[10](https://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/prik_n). In figurative uses, *prick of conscience* and *prik of deth* appeared in Older Scots texts, and the proverb "to spurn aganis or kick at the prick" was current[10](https://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/prik_n). Derived compounds in Scots included *pricker* and *prick-the-louse*, both contemptuous terms for a tailor, and *prick-me-dainty* (1520s in English), an affected, finical person[11](https://dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd00079143) • [1](https://www.etymonline.com/word/prick).
## Modern usage and register
Contemporary dictionaries give both taboo senses. Collins lists *prick* as a vulgar slang word for "penis" and as a vulgar, derogatory term for an obnoxious or despicable man[2](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/prick). The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary labels the penis sense "taboo, slang" and the person sense "taboo, offensive, slang", defining it as "an offensive word for a man who you think is unpleasant or stupid"[12](https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/prick_2). Webster's New World records the American sense as "a man regarded as bad-tempered, disagreeable, malicious, etc."[13](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/prick).
There are register differences between varieties of English. The British-American Dictionary notes that in the United States, Merriam-Webster defines the insulting sense as "a spiteful or contemptible man often having some authority", so the American insult tends to be aimed at someone with some status[7](https://british-american-dictionary.com/bad-words/prick-uk/). Dictionary.com's explanation of the everyday senses (puncture, mark, sharp emotional pain) sits alongside the warning that the vulgar senses are not for polite company[14](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/prick?q=Prick).
## Related words and phrases
The idiom *prick up one's ears*, "to start to listen attentively", dates to the 1580s and was originally said of animals with pointed ears; *prick-eared* of foxes, horses, or dogs is from the early 15th century[1](https://www.etymonline.com/word/prick). *Pricklouse* (circa 1500) was a derisive name for a tailor[1](https://www.etymonline.com/word/prick). The related adjective *pricky* ("prickly") is first recorded in the 1540s[15](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/pricky).
Among synonyms for the male genitalia in English slang, *prick* stands alongside *dick* and *knob* in British usage[7](https://british-american-dictionary.com/bad-words/prick-uk/).
## References
1. [Prick – Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Etymonline](https://www.etymonline.com/word/prick)
2. [Prick definition and meaning, Collins English Dictionary](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/prick)
3. [The Oxford Companion to the English Language (1992)](https://students.apexcollegeofnursingsciences.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/The_Oxford_companion_to_the_English_language.pdf)
4. [Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, 3rd edition (Bloomsbury)](https://content.fimsschools.com/academy.fims.org.pk/Dictionary%20of%20Contemporary%20Slang%2C%203rd%20edition.pdf)
5. [Idiom Origins – Prick, History of Prick](https://idiomorigins.org/origin/prick)
6. [Prick – Wiktionary, the free dictionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prick)
7. [Prick (UK) – British American Dictionary](https://british-american-dictionary.com/bad-words/prick-uk/)
8. [Suzanne Pickles thesis, White Rose eTheses](https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/22690/1/Suzanne%20Pickles%20Thesis.pdf)
9. [Rude words and euphemisms (Doug's Slang and Lit blog, PDF)](https://dougslangandlit.blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/mind-your-language.pdf)
10. [Prik, n., Dictionaries of the Scots Language (DOST)](https://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/prik_n)
11. [Prick, v., n., Scottish National Dictionary (DSL)](https://dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd00079143)
12. [Prick noun, Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary](https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/prick_2)
13. [Prick in American English, Collins English Dictionary (US)](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/prick)
14. [PRICK Definition & Meaning, Dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/prick?q=Prick)
15. [PRICKY Definition & Meaning, Dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/pricky)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Languages and linguistics › Linguistics › Language change, history, and social variation › Profanity, taboo words, and slang*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license