sodomy

[ sod-uh-mee ]

noun

anal sex, especially between men.
Law. any sexual contact other than heterosexual vaginal intercourse.

any sexual contact that is stigmatized as unnatural or immoral.

adjective

Law. of or relating to any sexual contact other than heterosexual vaginal intercourse.

Origin of sodomy

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English sodomie, from Old French; see Sodom, -y³

word story For sodomy

The term sodomy comes from the Latin phrase peccatum Sodomiticum, “the sin of Sodom,” and frequently meant anal sex between men, referencing the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19. However, the term sodomy has also often been used in laws criminalizing any kind of sexual contact that was seen as unnatural. In practice, this could mean any kind of sex that was not procreative, including oral sex and anal sex between a heterosexual couple, any kind of sex between two people of the same gender, and sex with non-human animals (sometimes called bestiality ).
In more recent legal use, sodomy laws usually criminalized oral and anal sex. These laws were often used to target homosexual sexual expression of all kinds, serving as tools for discrimination against nonheterosexual, noncisgender people. The landmark 2003 Supreme Court decision Lawrence v. Texas ruled that sodomy laws were unconstitutional in the United States.

Other words from sodomy

sod·o·mit·i·cal [sod-uh-mit-i-kuhl], /ˌsɒd əˈmɪt ɪ kəl/, sod·o·mit·ic, adjective
sod·o·mit·i·cal·ly, adverb

Words Nearby sodomy

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use sodomy in a sentence

Article 148 of the Sudanese Penal Code from 1991 said anyone who is convicted of sodomy three times “shall be punished with death, or with life imprisonment.”
Top 10 international news stories of 2020 | Michael K. Lavers | December 31, 2020 | Washington Blade
ISIS, which previously controlled large swaths of Syria and Iraq, publicly executed men who were accused of committing sodomy.
ISIS threatens to attack Turkish LGBTQ organization | Michael K. Lavers | December 7, 2020 | Washington Blade
Fairfax County police said Nizhamuding Jureti, 57, of Arlington, was charged with one count of forcible sodomy.
Arlington man charged in sexual assault of hospice patient | Dana Hedgpeth | November 23, 2020 | Washington Post
Virginia lawmakers in 2014 repealed their state’s sodomy ban.
Md. sodomy law officially repealed | Staff reports | October 1, 2020 | Washington Blade
Maryland earlier this year approved a bill that repealed the state’s sodomy law.
Md. sodomy law officially repealed | Staff reports | October 1, 2020 | Washington Blade

The charge: sodomy, a serious crime in a predominantly Muslim nation.
Malaysia’s Sham Sodomy Trial | Joshua Kurlantzick | September 30, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
sodomy, sod′om-i, n. unnatural sexuality, so called because imputed to the inhabitants of Sodom.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) | Various
sodomy was practiced by the nations of Cueba, 774 Careta, and other places.
The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 1 | Hubert Howe Bancroft
Not that he is guilty of sodomy nor did I ever hear the Sin so much as mentioned among them.
An Historical Relation Of The Island Ceylon In The East Indies | Robert Knox
sodomy is a crime both in the active and passive agent, unless the latter is a non-consenting party.
Aids to Forensic Medicine and Toxicology | W. G. Aitchison Robertson
In their drunkennesse, they vse and commit sodomy; and with their mothers and daughters they haue their pleasures and pastimes.
The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of the English Nation, Volume XIV (of 16) | Richard Hakluyt

British Dictionary definitions for sodomy

sodomy

/ (ˈsɒdəmɪ) /

noun

anal intercourse committed by a man with another man or a woman: Compare buggery

Origin of sodomy

C13: via Old French sodomie from Latin (Vulgate) Sodoma Sodom

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for sodomy

sodomy

[ (sod-uh-mee) ]

Sexual intercourse that is not the union of the genital organs of a man and a woman. The term is most frequently applied to anal intercourse between two men or to sexual relations between people and animals. (See pederast.)

Notes for sodomy

According to the Bible (see also Bible), God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for unacceptable sexual practices, apparently including anal intercourse between men. Sodomy takes its name from the city of Sodom.

Notes for sodomy

Many governments have laws against sodomy. These laws are difficult to enforce, however, and many people believe they violate personal privacy.

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