eroticism, n. (Formerly at erotic a. and n.)
(ɛˈrɒtɪsɪz(ə)m)
[f. erotic a. and n. + -ism.]
1. Erotic spirit or character; also, the use of erotic or sexually arousing imagery in literature or art.
| 1881 Sat. Rev. 9 July 53/1 The religious eroticism of Redi. 1885 Ibid. 11 Apr. 483/1 This martyr [Mme. de Montifaud] to eroticism. 1957 T. Talbot tr. J. Ortega y Gasset's On Love ii. 43 A theory of eroticism ought to begin by an explanation of its most perfect forms. 1969 Daily Tel. 10 Feb. 10/4 He [sc. Thomas Mann] puts the German character on the operating table..: the loneliness, the smug provincialism, the Wagnerian primitivism, the eroticism. 1978 I. B. Singer Shosha vii. 135 There is no reason why..even our friend Haiml's blend of eroticism and Hasidism could not exist in a play-city or play-world. 1989 Encycl. Brit. XXV. 358/2 Eroticism was more explicit in the sensuous nudes..of Fran{cced}ois Boucher. |
2. Med. and Psychol. A condition or state of sexual excitement or desire; a tendency to become sexually aroused, usu. by some specified stimulus.
| 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 373 The sexual appetite in both sexes is usually reduced or absent, but eroticism and self-abuse may be associated with the condition. 1924 H. Ellis Stud. Psychol. Sex (ed. 3) II. iii. 81 Ferenczi again..accepts ‘the psychic capacity of the child to direct his originally objectless eroticism to one or both sexes’, and terms this disposition ambisexuality. 1975 Obstetr. & Gynecol. XLVI. 315/1 Androgens increase eroticism. |