arousaln.
/əˈraʊzəl/ The action of arousing, or fact of being aroused.Not in Craig 1847. Webster cites Hare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > state of being awake > [noun] > action, act, or state of waking or being wakened
wakeningc1440
expergefaction1639
arousal1854
1854 tr. A. de Lamartine Mem. Celebrated Char. II. 122 The sudden arousal of the Dauphin by her voice.
1865 A. D. Whitney Gayworthys 216 Listening to the sounds of arousal about the country-side.
Draft additions June 2008
Originally Psychology. A phase of sexual activity characterized by sexual excitement, with erection in the male, and swelling of the external genitals and lubrication of the vagina in the female.Often with modifying word.
ΚΠ
1948 A. C. Kinsey et al. Sexual Behavior Human Male xvi. 531 The term ‘petting’ has been applied to any sort of physical contact which does not involve a union of genitalia but in which there is a deliberate attempt to effect erotic arousal.
1957 A. Ellis Let. 7 Sept. in I. L. Reiss & A. Ellis At Dawn of Sexual Revol. (2002) 73 I object to Freud's using the word ‘sex’ which essentially refers to psychophysical stimulation leading to genital arousal and satisfaction—to cover (a) sensuality (which is largely non-genital) and (b) love (which is largely non-sexual).
1965 Psychol. Rep. 16 713 Specific comparisons are drawn in relation to the periodicity of women's desire, the pleasure of genital stimulation, and the ‘unpleasure’ in arousal short of orgasm.
1973 S. Fisher Female Orgasm vii. 202 Ideation and fantasy do not..play a large or consistent role during the peak arousal phase.
1996 J. Updike In Beauty of Lilies 60 She accepted him without complaint on those rare evenings when arousal came unbeckoned upon him.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online December 2019).
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n.1854