Standard Lemma guide

smegma

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • smĕgʹmə
  • /ˈsmɛɡmə/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A whitish sebaceous secretion that collects between the glans penis and foreskin or in the vulva.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a white secretion of the sebaceous glands of the foreskin

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: sebum

History

Etymology

From Latin, borrowed from Ancient Greek σμῆγμα (smêgma), alternative form of σμῆμα (smêma, “soap, detergent”), from σμάω (smáō, “to wipe, clean”).

Across languages

Translations

60 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: لَخَن (laḵan) — sebaceous secretion
  • Armenian: սմեգմա (smegma) — sebaceous secretion
  • Basque: esmegma — sebaceous secretion
  • Belarusian: смегма (smjehma) — sebaceous secretion
  • Central Bikol: sapal — sebaceous secretion
  • Bulgarian: смегма (smegma) — sebaceous secretion
  • Catalan: esmegma — sebaceous secretion
  • Chinese Cantonese: 包皮垢 (baau1 pei4 gau3) — sebaceous secretion
  • Chinese Mandarin: 包皮垢 (bāopígòu) — sebaceous secretion
  • Chinese Mandarin: 陰垢 /阴垢 (yīngòu) — sebaceous secretion
  • Czech: smegma — sebaceous secretion
  • Danish: nakkeost — sebaceous secretion
  • Danish: smegma — sebaceous secretion
  • Dutch: smegma — sebaceous secretion
  • Esperanto: smegmo — sebaceous secretion
  • Estonian: smegma — sebaceous secretion
  • Finnish: esinahkatali — sebaceous secretion
  • French: smegma — sebaceous secretion
  • West-Frisian: smegma — sebaceous secretion
  • German: Smegma — sebaceous secretion
  • Greek: σμήγμα (smígma) — sebaceous secretion
  • Hebrew: סמגמה — sebaceous secretion
  • Hindi: शिश्नमल (śiśnamal) — sebaceous secretion
  • Icelandic: reðurfarði — sebaceous secretion
  • Icelandic: limfarði — sebaceous secretion
  • Icelandic: ostur — sebaceous secretion
  • Italian: smegma — sebaceous secretion
  • Japanese: 恥垢 (chikō) — sebaceous secretion
  • Japanese: チンカス (chinkasu) — sebaceous secretion
  • Korean: 귀두(龜頭)지 (gwiduji) — sebaceous secretion
  • Korean: 치구 (chigu) — sebaceous secretion
  • Korean: 스메그마 (seumegeuma) — sebaceous secretion
  • Korean: 좆밥 (jotbap) — sebaceous secretion
  • Lithuanian: smegma — sebaceous secretion
  • Macedonian: смегма (smegma) — sebaceous secretion
  • Macedonian: урда (urda) — sebaceous secretion
  • Maltese: ġobon il-ġarretta — sebaceous secretion
  • Māori: paraheka — sebaceous secretion
  • Māori: ngahu — sebaceous secretion
  • Khiamniungan Naga: lûishìh — sebaceous secretion
  • Polish: mastka — sebaceous secretion
  • Portuguese: esmegma — sebaceous secretion
  • Russian: смегма (smegma) — sebaceous secretion
  • Sicilian: smemma — sebaceous secretion
  • Sicilian: smegma — sebaceous secretion
  • Sicilian: ricotta — sebaceous secretion
  • Spanish: esmegma — sebaceous secretion
  • Swahili: pumba — sebaceous secretion
  • Swedish: smegma — sebaceous secretion
  • Swedish: flensost — sebaceous secretion
  • Swedish: kukost — sebaceous secretion
  • Tagalog: kupal — sebaceous secretion
  • Tagalog: hima — sebaceous secretion
  • Thai: ขี้เปียก (kîi-bpìiak) — sebaceous secretion
  • Turkish: smegma — sebaceous secretion
  • Ukrainian: смегма (smehma) — sebaceous secretion
  • Vietnamese: bựa — sebaceous secretion
  • Vietnamese: bựa sinh dục — sebaceous secretion
  • Vietnamese: pho mát — sebaceous secretion
  • Welsh: smegma — sebaceous secretion