Editing Perineum (section)

==Etymology==

[[File:Dendera Relief 13.JPG|thumb|The Egyptian word for the space between anus and genitals is ''wpt mtny.'' [[File:Wpt mnty.svg|alt=asdf|frameless|upright=0.15| ]]<ref name="Internet Archive 2023 e918">{{cite web |date=2023-03-25 |title=Dictionary Of Middle Egyptian By Paul Dickson ( 2006) ( Gardiner List): elgamelyan: Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming: Internet Archive |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofmiddleegyptianbypauldickson2006gardinerlist |access-date=2024-05-07 |website=Internet Archive |page=55}}</ref> ]]

The word entered English from late Latin via [[Greek language|Greek]] περίναιος ~ περίνεος ''perinaios, perineos'', itself from περίνεος, περίνεοι 'male genitals' and earlier περίς ''perís'' 'penis' through influence from πηρίς ''pērís'' 'scrotum'. The term was originally understood as a purely male body-part with the perineal raphe seen as a continuation of the [[scrotal septum]] since [[Virilization|masculinization]] causes the development of a large [[anogenital distance]] in men, in comparison to the corresponding lack of distance in women.<ref name = "simkin">{{cite journal | author= Simkin Oliver | title= Περίς, πηρίς and περίναιος | journal= Revista de Lingüística y Filología Clásica | date= 2016 | volume= LXXXIV | issue= 2 | pages= 353–362 | url= | doi= 10.3989/emerita.2016.18.1532 | pmid= | pmc= | doi-access= free }}</ref> As a result of [[Folk etymology|folk etymologies]] (such as ἰνάω ináō, "to carry off by evacuations"), it is contemporaneously extended to both sexes.