Fellatio
/fəˈleɪʃi.oʊ/noun
Oral stimulation of the penis.
Did you know?Latin writers used fellāre, “to suck,” and related nouns such as fellātor for a person who performed the act; the modern English noun was later formed directly from Latin.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European (reconstructed)
PIE
*dʰelH-
“To suck or suckle; the proposed ancestral root is associated with sucking and the nipple.”
Classical Latin
Latin
fellāre
“To suck; a vulgar sexual verb in some contexts.”
Classical Latin
Latin
fellātiō
“A sucking; a noun formed from fellāre.”
19th Century
English
fellatio
“English adoption of the Latin sexual noun, first recorded in modern medical and sexological usage.”
Modern English
English
fellatio
“Oral stimulation of the penis.”
Explore more surprising origins