Frigidity
/frɪˈdʒɪdɪti/noun
The state or quality of being cold; in older or medical usage, sexual unresponsiveness or lack of desire.
Did you know?Frigidity comes from Latin *frigidus* (“cold”), from *frīgēre* (“to be cold”), and its older sexual sense shows how languages turn temperature into a metaphor for desire.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*preyǵ-
“to be cold, freeze”
Latin
Latin
frīgēre
“to be cold”
Latin
Latin
frigidus
“cold, chilly”
Old French
OF
frigidité
“coldness, chill”
Late Middle English
English
frigidite
“coldness; later, sexual coldness”
Modern English
English
frigidity
“coldness; sexual unresponsiveness”