Phys. [a. Gr. κλειτορίς, perh. f. κλεί-ειν to shut.] A homologue of the male penis, present, as a rudimentary organ, in the females of many of the higher vertebrata.
1615. Crooke, Body of Man, 225. These Ligaments … do degenerate into a broad and sinewy slendernes … vppon which the Clitoris cleaueth and is tyed. Ibid., 238.
1650. Bulwer, Anthropomet., 216–7. Cutting the Clitoris … which is revera a little Yard.
1836. Todd, Cycl. Anat., I. 482/2. The clitoris is found in all the Carnivora.
1871. Huxley, Anat. Vert. Anim., 111. In some few mammals (e.g. the Lemuridæ) the clitoris is traversed by a urethral canal.
