Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of, relating to, or near the anus.
  • adjective Of or relating to the second stage of psychosexual development in psychoanalytic theory, roughly from ages one to three, during which gratification is derived from sensations associated with the anus and defecation. The anal stage is preceded by the oral stage and followed by the phallic stage.
  • adjective Indicating personality traits considered by psychoanalytic theory to originate during the anal stage of development, especially anal-retentive traits.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of or pertaining to the anus.
  • Situated at or near the anus; aboral: the opposite of oral.
  • Ventral and median, as the fin of a fish, without reference to its position with respect to the anus: the opposite of dorsal.
  • In zoölogy its abbreviation is adjective
  • In mammals, any glandular organ situated near or connected with the anus, such as those existing in the Mustelidæ. They reach their greatest development in the skunks, and their secretion is the cause of the fetid odor of these animals.
  • noun In ichthyology, an anal fin.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective (Anat.) Pertaining to, or situated near, the anus.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective of, related to, intended for or involving the anus
  • adjective psychoanalysis of the stage in psychosexual development when the child's interest is concentrated on the anal region.
  • adjective psychology of a person, obsessed with neatness, accuracy, compulsiveness and stubbornness, supposedly from not having progressed beyond the anal stage.
  • noun anal sex

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective of or related to the anus
  • adjective a stage in psychosexual development when the child's interest is concentrated on the anal region; fixation at this stage is said to result in orderliness, meanness, stubbornness, compulsiveness, etc.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Latin ānus, anus.]

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