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Glite Dictionary
oral phase

oral phase

8.6
First stage of a baby's development when they feel pleasure from sucking and biting
  • noun
  • /ˈɔrəl feɪz/
  • Specialized
translation icon : fase oral
  • During the oral phase, infants derive pleasure from sucking on their thumbs.

Examples

  • Observing an infant during the oral phase can provide insight into their development and needs.

  • Many pediatricians believe that oral phase behaviors like chewing and biting are normal for babies.

  • The formation of the separate self, which according to our model occurs in the middle of the oral phase of development and marks the division between early and later orality, is not instantaneous but rather a gradual process.

    Academic text (1990)

  • If, however, the traumatizing fixation occurs at the later oral phase, the self may well be in a position to attribute the cause of pain and deprivation to its proper source: the objects.

    Academic text (1990)

Synonyms

oral stage
vsoral phase
  • Specialized
7.9

The first stage of baby development when babies get pleasure from sucking or chewing

is the psychoanalytic label that stresses sexual development linked to mouth pleasure

Surface Forms

oral phase singular
oral phases plural

Morphology

oral + phase

The meaning is directly derivable from 'oral' (relating to the mouth) + 'phase' (a stage), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer it refers to a stage focused on mouth-related activities. Though used in a technical psychoanalytic sense, the composition is transparent and follows common cross-linguistic patterns for naming developmental stages.

Etymology

Oral phase comes from old ideas about how babies grow: oral means 'mouth' and phase means 'a short stage'. It describes a time when babies get pleasure from 'sucking' and 'biting', and that's why the phrase today means an 'early stage' when a child's mouth activities can shape later behavior.