Onanism

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈəʊnəˌnɪzəm/

Definitions

1. Self-stimulation of the genitals to achieve sexual pleasure is often referred to in a clinical context
2. This activity involves the act of deriving sexual satisfaction through physical contact with one's own genitalia
3. The act of engaging in self-induced sexual arousal through stimulation of one's own genitals is commonly understood

Etymology: The name comes from a figure in the Book of Genesis. Onan, a son of Judah, was bound by levirate custom to father children with his dead brother Er's widow, Tamar, so that the offspring would carry Er's name. Onan refused to let the children count as his brother's, and spilled his seed on the ground instead. The Genesis account describes the act as a refusal to give offspring, not as a sexual sin in itself, but later readers took the story as a condemnation of masturbation, and the name came to stand for that practice. The word is simply the name "Onan" with the suffix "-ism," which in English forms nouns for doctrines, practices, or conditions. Onanism therefore means, literally, "the Onan practice," a label that grew out of centuries of moral and theological argument rather than any scientific term.

Synonyms: masturbation