entry
condom
/ˈkɑːndəm/A sheath used to prevent pregnancy and STIs
From Italian guantone (Large glove).
from Italian guantone
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from Italian guantone
+1 more sourceThe word’s origin sits behind a curtain rather than in a tidy dictionary family tree. The familiar story says a physician named Condom supplied sheaths to Charles II, but that tale appears only around 1709, and no convincing historical Dr. Condom has been found. The spelling variants condam and quondam point instead toward Italian guantone, “a large glove,” from guanto, “glove”—a wonderfully literal image for a sheath worn on the body. Even the Oxford English Dictionary initially left the word out around 1890, reflecting how cautiously polite society treated it. In the United States, condoms were not openly advertised in mass media until Surgeon General C. Everett Koop’s AIDS-prevention speech in November 1986. So the word’s memorable secret is this: its supposed namesake may be fictional, while its likelier ancestor is simply a glove in disguise.
The Story
The word’s origin sits behind a curtain rather than in a tidy dictionary family tree. The familiar story says a physician named Condom supplied sheaths to Charles II, but that tale appears only around 1709, and no convincing historical Dr. Condom has been found. The spelling variants condam and quondam point instead toward Italian guantone, “a large glove,” from guanto, “glove”—a wonderfully literal image for a sheath worn on the body. Even the Oxford English Dictionary initially left the word out around 1890, reflecting how cautiously polite society treated it. In the United States, condoms were not openly advertised in mass media until Surgeon General C. Everett Koop’s AIDS-prevention speech in November 1986. So the word’s memorable secret is this: its supposed namesake may be fictional, while its likelier ancestor is simply a glove in disguise.
Modern Usage
An informal or humorous term for a condom, often framed as protection from pregnancy or its consequences
Notable References
- Urban Dictionary entries use humorous descriptions such as “savior to many who fear child support”
Kin & Kindred
From 'guantone'·Large glove
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia
Wiktionary