anal stage
- noun
- /ˈeɪnəl steɪdʒ/
- Specialized
:
etapa anal
- In psychoanalytic theory, the anal stage is crucial for understanding how children form their sense of autonomy.
Examples
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During the anal stage of development, children learn to control their bowel and bladder movements.
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And the reason that's an anal stage issue is because this is the point at which if you're an infant, it's not just anything goes anymore.
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My patients who remain fixated at the anal stage of their erotic development come out with the most amusing details!
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Experts agree that challenges during the anal stage can lead to future issues with control and order.
Synonyms
A stage in early childhood when a child learns to control their bowel movements and toilet use
How Mature
- Specialized
- Specialized
- NSFW
- Specialized
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The term directly combines 'anal' (relating to the anus) with 'stage' (a phase), so the meaning—a developmental phase focused on bowel/bladder control—is transparently derivable from the constituents. This is a literal, compositional noun phrase and similar terminology exists in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words would likely infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Anal stage comes from the ideas of Sigmund Freud about young children and 'toilet training'. He used anal to mean the child's focus on the bottom and on learning to control toilet habits, and he called that time a stage, so the phrase names that early period and explains why it is linked to later personality.
