Irrumatio (also known asirrumation or by the colloquialismface-fucking) is a form oforal sex in which a manthrusts hispenis into another person's mouth, in contrast tofellatio where the penis is being actively orally excited by a fellator. The difference lies mainly in which party takes the active part. By extension,irrumatio can also refer to the sexual technique of thrusting the penis between the thighs of a partner (intercrural sex).[1]
In the ancient Roman sexual vocabulary,irrumatio is a form oforal rape (os impurum), in which a man forces his penis into someone else's mouth.[2]
TheEnglish nounsirrumatio andirrumation, and the verbirrumate, come from theLatinirrumāre, meaningto force receptive male oral sex.[3][4] J. L. Butrica, in his review of R. W. Hooper's edition ofThe Priapus Poems, acorpus of poems known asPriapeia in Latin, states that "someRoman sexual practices, likeirrumatio, lack simple English equivalents".[5]
There is some conjecture among linguists, as yet unresolved, thatirrŭmātio may be connected with the Latin wordrūmen, rūminis, the throat and gullet, whence 'ruminate', to chew the cud, therefore meaning 'insertion into the throat'. Others[6] connect it withrūma orrūmis, an obsolete word for a teat, hence it would mean "giving milk", "giving to suck". (Compare the wordfellō, which literally meant "suck (milk)" before it acquired its sexual sense.)
As thequotation from Butrica suggests and an article by W. A. Krenkel shows,irrumatio was a distinct sexual practice in ancient Rome.[7][clarification needed][8] J. N. Adams states that "it was a standard joke to speak ofirrumatio as a means of silencing someone".[9]Oral sex was considered to be an act of defilement: the mouth had a particularly defined role as the organ of oratory, as inGreece, to participate in the central public sphere, where discursive powers were of great importance. Thus, to penetrate the mouth could be taken to be a sign of massive power differential within a relationship.Erotic art from Pompeii depictsirrumatio along withfututio,fellatio and cunnilingus, andpedicatio or anal sex.[10] The extant wall paintings depicting explicit sex often appear to be in bathhouses and brothels, and oral sex was something usually practiced withprostitutes because of their lowly status. Craig A. Williams argues thatirrumatio was regarded as a degrading act, even more so than anal rape.[11] S. Tarkovsky states that, despite being popular, it was thought to be a hostile act, "taken directly from the Greek, whereby the Greek men would have to force the fellatio by violence".[10] Furthermore, asAmy Richlin has shown in an article in theJournal of the History of Sexuality, it was also accepted as "oralrape", apunitive act againsthomosexuality.[12]Catullus threatens two friends who have insulted him with bothirrumatio andpedicatio in hisCarmen 16, although the use could also mean "go to hell," rather than being a literal threat.[13]
In modern English, the term "fellatio" has expanded to incorporateirrumatio, and the latter has fallen out of widespread use.[14] Likewise,irrumatio might today be called "forced fellatio" or "oral rape". In modern English, especially in a non-rape context, the term "face fucking" is often used.[15]
Another synonym forirrumatio isEgyptian rape or simplyEgyptian; this goes back to the time of theCrusades whenMamluks were alleged to force their Christian captives to do this.[16][page needed]
Peruvian erotic pottery of theMochica cultures represent a form of fellatio in the vases showing oragenital acts. See the vases illustrated in color in Dr. Rafael Larco-Hoyle’sChecan (Love!), published in both French and English versions by Éditions Nagel in Geneva, 1965, plates 30–33 and 133–135. The action should really be consideredirrumation[17]
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The dictionary definition ofirrumatio at Wiktionary The dictionary definition ofirrumation at Wiktionary