From Middle English erect, a borrowing from Latin ērectus (“upright”), past participle of ērigō (“raise, set up”), from ē- (“out”) + regō (“to direct, keep straight, guide”).
Meanings
Upright; vertical or reaching broadly upwards.
Among the Greek colonies and churches of Asia, Philadelphia is still erect—a column in a scene of ruins. 1788, Edward Gibbon, chapter LXIV, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume VI, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC:
(of body parts) Rigid, firm; standing out perpendicularly, especially as the result of stimulation.
erect nipples
The penis should be fully erect before commencing copulation.
(of a person) Having an erect penis or clitoris.
OK, baby, I'm erect now. Let's get it on!
(obsolete) Bold; confident; free from depression; undismayed.
But who is he, by years / Bowed, but erect in heart? 1827, [John Keble], The Christian Year: Thoughts in Verse for the Sundays and Holydays throughout the Year, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [B]y W. Baxter, for J. Parker; and C[harles] and J[ohn] Rivington, […], →OCLC:
(obsolete) Directed upward; raised; uplifted.
His piercing Eyes, erect, appear to vievv / Superior VVorlds, and look all Nature thro'. 1715, [Alexander] Pope, The Temple of Fame: A Vision, London: […] Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, page 23:
Watchful; alert.
vigilant and erect attention of mind [1594], Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Iohn Windet, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page):
Elevated, as the tips of wings, heads of serpents, etc.
Forms
Spelling
Features
Labels
Source
most erect
Degree=Sup
lexicographic
more erect
Degree=Cmp
lexicographic
Antonyms
flaccid (antonym(s) of “rigid, standing out perpendicularly”)
ckb قیت (standing out perpendicularly) · fi kova (having an erect penis) · fi pystyasennossa (vertical in position) · pt ereto (standing out perpendicularly) · eo rekta (vertical in position) · ca erecte (vertical in position) · fr en érection (having an erect penis) · la ērectus (vertical in position) · gl teso (standing out perpendicularly) · pt ereto (vertical in position) · pt ereto (having an erect penis) · bn খাড়া (standing out perpendicularly) · sv rest (vertical in position) · es erecto (having an erect penis) · es empalmado (having an erect penis) · es enhiesto (standing out perpendicularly) · fi tanassa (standing out perpendicularly) · de erigiert (standing out perpendicularly) · es erguido (standing out perpendicularly) · ca erecte (standing out perpendicularly) · ka ამდგარი (having an erect penis) · bn খাড়া (vertical in position) · fi pysty (vertical in position) · ru прямо́й (vertical in position) · fr érigé (standing out perpendicularly) · it dritto (standing out perpendicularly) · it eretto (standing out perpendicularly) · ga ardcheannach (vertical in position) · es erecto (vertical in position) · mi takotako (vertical in position) · fr en érection (standing out perpendicularly) · it eretto (vertical in position) · sv upprätt (vertical in position) · fi kova (standing out perpendicularly) · mk простум (standing out perpendicularly) · fr dressé (vertical in position) · ru вертикальный (vertical in position) · it duro (vertical in position) · ka ერეგირებული (having an erect penis) · sa ऊर्ध्व (vertical in position) · ru вертика́льно поднятый (vertical in position) · pdt steil (vertical in position) · ru торчащий (standing out perpendicularly) · mk исправен (vertical in position) · bg изправен (standing out perpendicularly) · mk подигнат (vertical in position) · bg прав (standing out perpendicularly) · fr dressé (standing out perpendicularly) · ru ощетинившийся (standing out perpendicularly) · fr érigé (vertical in position) · mi tora (vertical in position) · bg вертика́лен (vertical in position)
From Middle English erecten, from the adjective (see above).
Meanings
(transitive) To put up by the fitting together of materials or parts.
to erect a house or a fort
(transitive) To cause to stand up or out.
To raise and place in an upright or perpendicular position; to set upright; to raise.
to erect a pole, a flagstaff, a monument, etc.
(intransitive, of a gyroscopic attitude indicator) To raise and place in an upright or perpendicular position; to set upright; to raise. ▸ To spin up and align to vertical.
As soon as electrical power was restored, the attitude indicators' gyros would have begun to erect.
(transitive) To lift up; to elevate; to exalt; to magnify.
, Preface
I, who am a party, am not to erect myself into a judge.
that didst his state above his hopes erect 1595, Samuel Daniel, “(please specify the folio number)”, in The First Fowre Bookes of the Ciuile Wars between the Two Houses of Lancaster and Yorke, London: […] P[eter] Short for Simon Waterson, →OCLC:
(transitive) To animate; to encourage; to cheer.
It raiseth the dropping spirit, erecting it to a loving complaisance. a. 1678 (date written), Isaac Barrow, “(please specify the chapter name or sermon number)”, in The Works of Dr. Isaac Barrow. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […], published 1830–1831, →OCLC:
(transitive) To cast or draw up (a figure of the heavens, horoscope etc.).
In 1581 Parliament made it a statutory felony to erect figures, cast nativities, or calculate by prophecy how long the Queen would live or who would succeed her. 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 332:
(intransitive) To enter a state of physiological erection.
On the 17th of July, the patient returned to the country, perfectly healed: the penis erected and he was capable of coition. 1828, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, page 113:
When the penis erects, blood pours into what erectile tissue there is and enlarges the penis somewhat, but by making it turgid, the S-shaped bend is straightened out and the penis extends. 2012 July 12, Tim Glover, Mating Males: An Evolutionary Perspective on Mammalian Reproduction, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 126:
On an adequate stimulus the penis erected, the testes were drawn up, and the dartos muscle slowly contracted. 1917, Brain: A Journal of Neurology, page 292:
His black dick erected with a long bend. 2008 September 15, Naval Ahmed, Blue Moon On Bandideau, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 234:
(transitive) To set up as an assertion or consequence from premises, etc.
from fallacious foundations, and misapprehended mediums, erecting conclusions no way inferrible from their premises 1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], London: […] T[homas] H[arper] for Edward Dod, […], →OCLC:
Malebranche erects this proposition. a. 1705, John Locke, “An Examination of P[ère] Malebranche’s Opinion of Seeing All Things in God”, in Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke: […], London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published 1706, →OCLC:
(transitive) To set up or establish; to found; to form; to institute.
to erect a new commonwealth [1594], Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Iohn Windet, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page):
In 1686, he was appointed one of the Commissioners in the new ecclesiastical commission erected by King James, and was proud of that honour. 1812, Arthur Collins & Sir Egerton Brydges, Peerage of England, F.C. and J. Rivington et al, page 330
ka გაუმაგრდება (to enter a state of physiological erection) · fi kohottaa (to animate; to encourage; to cheer) · es erguir (to raise and place in an upright or perpendicular position) · ga cuir suas (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts) · ru сооружать (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts) · bg изправям (to cause to stand up or out) · ru строить (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts) · la erigo (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts) · gd tog (to cause to stand up or out) · pt erigir (to cause to stand up or out) · gd tog (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts) · fi vetää (to set up as an assertion or consequence from premises) · la erigo (to cause to stand up or out) · es erguir (to cause to stand up or out) · es erigir (to set up or establish) · ru устана́вливать (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts) · ka აუდგება (to enter a state of physiological erection) · fi pystyttää (to raise and place in an upright or perpendicular position) · pam talakad (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts) · pt erguer (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts) · fi rakentaa (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts) · mi whakatū (to cause to stand up or out) · ru возводить (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts) · fi pystyttää (to cause to stand up or out) · ru распрямлять (to cause to stand up or out) · sv resa (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts) · no reise (to cause to stand up or out) · ka უმაგრდება (to enter a state of physiological erection) · ga fadaigh (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts) · sv resa (to cause to stand up or out) · grc ὀρθόω (to cause to stand up or out) · az ucaltmaq (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts) · no reise (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts) · fi kohottaa (to lift up; to elevate; to exalt; to magnify) · grc ὀρθόω (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts) · fi laatia (astrology: to cast or draw up) · ka უდგება (to enter a state of physiological erection) · eo starigi (to cause to stand up or out) · es enhestar (to raise and place in an upright or perpendicular position) · ru выпрямлять (to cause to stand up or out) · cs vztyčit (to cause to stand up or out) · fi nostaa (to lift up; to elevate; to exalt; to magnify) · es erigir (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts) · pt erigir (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts) · fi pystyttää (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts) · no erigere (to cause to stand up or out) · bg издигам (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts) · ang āhebban (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts) · fi perustaa (to set up or establish) · mk подига (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts) · eo fondi (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts) · pt erguer (to cause to stand up or out) · mi whaihanga (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts) · mk крева (to cause to stand up or out) · fi tehdä (to set up as an assertion or consequence from premises) · ga cuir suas (to raise and place in an upright or perpendicular position) · pl wznieść (to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts)