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English word origin

Etymology of porno

Clipping of pornographic or pornography. Attested from mid-20th century.

1 source sectionBrief source recordWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
noun

Pornography. · A pornographic film. · A pornographic magazine.

adj

Pornographic.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Clipping of pornographic or pornography. Attested from mid-20th century.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "clipping",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "pornographic,pornography"
      },
      "expansion": "Clipping of pornographic or pornography"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "pornographic",
      "pornographic#English"
    ],
    [
      "pornography",
      "pornography#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Pornography.",
        "A pornographic film.",
        "A pornographic magazine."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal",
        "uncountable",
        "countable"
      ],
      "recordId": "1f87bd067bcbe1444448c468193cb104d7b1e32fd5af1a31e97cfd880003d794",
      "rawRecordSha256": "30c471f43410f956b52e3dfc38dabee2924ba9ec096daaabe35e0d3a179c08d3",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 186963
    },
    {
      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "Pornographic."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal",
        "not-comparable"
      ],
      "recordId": "f8919e45d54080a48d5cfbaacce0c7ebb59c0a16245487283c79a64cdd95322a",
      "rawRecordSha256": "088e15013c953e3cd485a9887462e0ec5c6c3a66eda51421f68f8d2435f173d4",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 186962
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for porno →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-cG9ybm8