Onanistic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Referring to the practice of engaging in sexual activities for one’s own enjoyment without a partner
2. Pertaining to acts of sexual pleasure achieved alone without involving others
3. Connected to self-stimulation for sexual satisfaction without a partner

Etymology: The adjective traces back to a figure in Genesis. In the biblical story of Judah and his sons, Onan is required to father children with his deceased brother's widow, Tamar, but he spills his seed on the ground rather than give her offspring. The text condemns the act, and over the centuries the name became attached to the practice itself, though the Genesis passage describes coitus interruptus, not self-stimulation. The connection to masturbation came from later interpreters and moralists, which is why the word carries the story's ethical judgment inside it. The word is formed from "Onan" with the suffix "-istic," which turns a name into an adjective meaning "characteristic of" or "relating to" something. The term "onanist" for a person who practises the act was formed on the same name, and "onanistic" is built from that noun. Both forms reflect a naming pattern common in English, where a person's name becomes a label for a behaviour, as with "Quixotic" or "Boycott."

Synonyms: masturbatory