Published : 2025-08-05

Intimacy, Privacy, Sexuality: Between a Dictionary Definition and the Conceptual Understanding in the Language of Polish Philology Students

Abstract

The aim of this article is to examine intimacy, privacy and sexuality as lexical items within the system of contemporary Polish language to show how these concepts are defined in modern Polish dictionaries, and determine their semantic scopes. The analysis of dictionary entries reveals that these terms often overlap, undergo changes over the span of more than fifty years, and that their definitions depend on the context. Lexicographic findings served as a foundation for a survey investigating how these three selected concepts are understood by Polish philology students at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland. The analysis and interpretation of the results demonstrated a high level of linguistic awareness among the respondents and the dynamic nature of these concepts. While some definitions closely align with dictionary descriptions, differences can be observed between the lexicographic and students’ perceptions of intimacy, privacy, and sexuality. Furthermore, the students’ responses reflect an ongoing shift in the understanding of these concepts, influenced by contemporary social norms related to the (de)tabooization of sexuality in public discourse.

Keywords:

intimacy, privacy, sexuality, definition, concept, survey research, tabooization, euphemization



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Roczniki Humanistyczne · ISSN 0035-7707 | eISSN 2544-5200 | DOI: 10.18290/rh
© The Learned Society of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin & The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Faculty of Humanities

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