2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21
Today, there are a large number of terms that modern people do not understand due to the fact that they are outdated or replaced by other concepts. For example, many people do not know what the word "sodomite" means. It really is already outdated and out of speech, but those who are interested in history or accidentally heard this archaism will be interested to know its etymology. Let's look at what this word means, and what are the theories of its origin.
What is a sodomite?
According to the explanatory dictionary, a sodomite is a person subject to sodomy. Sodomy, in turn, means a serious deviation from the norm in sexual relations. Often this term refers to sexual perversion. In other words, a sodomite is an individual who, deviating from generally accepted norms, has sexual contact with a person of his owngender (woman with woman, man with man). Thus, most often we are talking about a person of a homosexual orientation.
However, a sodomite is not only a homosexual, but also any individual who enjoys manifestations of sexuality that do not help conception (oral and anal caresses, masturbation, etc.). That is, by sodomy they mean everything that is different from ordinary vaginal sex.
It is worth considering that the word we are considering has a biblical connotation. This is due to the history of the origin of the hypernym.
Christian version of the origin of the term
According to the biblical story, there used to be two cities - Sodom and Gomorrah. Their inhabitants were sinners who often entered into homosexual relationships with each other. Once, the righteous Lot, who lived in Sodom, stayed for the night with two strangers. The inhabitants of the city wanted to have sexual intercourse with them, for which God was angry with them. Lot, who was far from sin, tried to beg for mercy from the Almighty, but he destroyed two cities along with their inhabitants.
In this biblical narrative, for the first time, such a thing as “sodomy sin” appeared, which means entering into a homosexual relationship. The names of the cities - Gomorrah and Sodom - have become common nouns in Christian society. According to the Bible, a sodomite is not only a homosexual, but also a person who is subject to debauchery and lust. So, in the Old Testament it is said that the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah were sexually immoral. Thus, a synonym for the word "sodomite" would be the term"sexual pervert".
Catholic version of the origin of the term
During the period from the sixth to the eleventh centuries in central and western Europe, the word "sodomy" denoted any prohibited sexual intercourse, including premarital or extramarital sexual intercourse. Also, people who preferred oral and anal caresses with representatives of both their own and the opposite sex were classified as sodomites. It is worth noting that the Catholic Church recognized only sexual contact between a man and a woman who are legally married. Moreover, sexual intercourse between them should not have been for pleasure, but solely for the sake of conceiving a child.
Later, more precisely in the eleventh century, during the Inquisition, the Catholic Church began to call sodomy homosexual relations between a man and a man. Since then, only representatives of the strong half of humanity began to fall under the mentioned hypernym, and the sin of Sodom began to be perceived as a sexual relationship between a man and a man.
Sodomy in the Russian Empire
Data and sources indicate that in the Russian Empire in pre-Petrine times there was also such a thing as sodomy. Russian people identified this term exclusively with homosexual contact between two men. Researchers say that sodomites were most often we althy merchants who even hired boys for their own sexual satisfaction.
Synonymous with the word "sodomite" in the Russian Empire was the concept"husband". It first appeared in ancient Russian law to refer to this type of deviant sexual behavior. It should be said that homosexual relations were not considered sinful in Russia.
Sodomy in the modern world
Today, this term has already ceased to be actively used, as it has been replaced by more understandable words and phrases, such as “homosexuality”, “non-traditional sexual orientation” and others. Now the hyperonym we are considering has become a bookish concept, which has passed into archaism. If earlier it was actively used in church literature and jurisprudence, then today many people do not even know what sodomite is. We have considered the meaning of the term above, so the reader may well consider himself at least a little knowledgeable in this matter.
It is worth noting that in the modern world, sodomy means primarily anal sex and sexual intercourse with animals (bestiality). Thus, a sodomite is not necessarily a person who gravitates towards sex with members of the same sex, it can also be an individual who is addicted to anal sex.
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