פֹּת (Pot) — vulva

Etymology

The word pot appears only once in the Hebrew Bible, in the Book of Isaiah (3:17): "The Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will lay bare their pothen." Its original meaning is highly debated. Traditional rabbinic interpretation, found in the Talmud (Shabbat 62b), identifies it as the female genitalia. Some sages linked it to the Greek kothon (a vessel or cup), while others saw it as a variation of petach (opening). Medieval commentators like Ibn Ezra further connected it to the "holes" or "sockets" (potot) of door hinges mentioned in Kings I.

However, non-Jewish scholarship offers different paths. St. Jerome (c. 400 CE) interpreted the word as pe'ot (hair or temples), a view supported by the parallel structure of the verse which mentions the "crown of the head." In 1935, scholar G.R. Driver suggested the word stems from the Akkadian putu, meaning "forehead." Despite these linguistic uncertainties, the rabbinic sexual interpretation remained dominant in Jewish tradition.

In the early 20th century, as Modern Hebrew sought specific medical terminology, the word was "rediscovered." While early dictionaries and physicians preferred terms like erva (nakedness) or keli leda (birth vessel), the word pot was reportedly used as slang by students of the Herzliya Gymnasium. In 1928, physician Alexander Malchi included it in his dictionary, though he considered it too "coarse" to print in full, listing it only as "P.-". In 1941, the Hebrew Language Committee officially adopted pot as the formal anatomical term for the vulva, specifically to distinguish it from erva, which can refer to both male and female genitalia.

Key Quotes

"וְשִׂפַּח אֲדֹנָי קָדְקֹד בְּנוֹת צִיּוֹן וַה' פָּתְהֵן יְעָרֶה" — ישעיהו ג', י"ז

"המילה עֶרְוָה אינה מיוחדת דוקא לערוות אשה. הועדה ייחדה לעניין זה את המילה פות" — ועד הלשון העברית, לשוננו, 1941

Timeline

• ~700 BCE: First and only biblical appearance in Isaiah 3:17.
• ~400 CE: St. Jerome translates the term as "hair/temples" in the Vulgate.
• ~500 CE: The Babylonian Talmud defines the term as female genitalia.
• 11th Century: Rashi interprets it as a "wide-mouthed vessel," while Ibn Ezra links it to door sockets.
• 1928: Dr. Alexander Malchi mentions the word (censored) in a medical dictionary.
• 1941: The Hebrew Language Committee officially designates pot as the formal anatomical term.

Related Words

• עֶרְוָה (erva) — nakedness; used historically for genitalia but now a more general/literary term.
• פֶּתַח (petach) — opening; a possible linguistic relative.
• כּוּס (kuss) — vulva/vagina (slang); borrowed from Arabic, which borrowed it from Persian.
• פּוּטֵה (pute) — Lithuanian/Yiddish slang for female genitalia; possibly influenced the modern adoption.