clito (French)

Where does "clito" come from?

The French noun 'clito' is a casual abbreviation of the word 'clitoris.' Developed as a clipping, it serves as a shortened, colloquial form of the longer, formal anatomical term.

Full etymology tree

• clito (French), 'clit'
  • clipping clitoris (French), 'clitoris'
    • learned borrowing κλειτορίς (kleitorís) (Ancient Greek), 'clitoris'

Updated May 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris