auto-erotism Psychol.
(ˌɔːtəʊˈɛrətɪz(ə)m)
Also -eˈroticism.
[f. auto-1 + erotism, eroticism; cf. G. autoerotismus (Freud 1899, Let. to W. Fliess 9 Dec. in Aus d. Anfängen d. Psychoanalyse (1950) 324).]
Spontaneous erotism, self-erotism; sexual gratification aroused or obtained by oneself, i.e. not with another person; masturbation. (Cf. allo-erotism.)
| 1898 H. Ellis in Alienist & Neurol. Apr. 260 (title of paper), Auto-Erotism, a Psychological Study. Ibid., By ‘auto-erotism’ I mean the phenomena of spontaneous sexual emotion generated in the absence of an external stimulus proceeding, directly or indirectly, from another person. 1900 ― Studies Psychol. Sex II. 125 In a wide sense..auto-erotism may be said to include those transformations of repressed sexual activity which are a factor of some morbid conditions as well as of the normal manifestations of art and poetry. 1916 Auto-eroticism [see autism]. 1952 V. Gollancz My Dear Timothy 198 A common or garden tendency to masochistic autoerotism. 1954 [see allo-erotism]. 1955 C. S. Lewis Surprised by Joy xi. 160 The first and deadly error..turning religion into a self-caressing luxury and love into auto-eroticism. 1963 in A. Heron Towards Quaker View of Sex ii. 16 It can firmly be said that autoeroticism (the name given by psychologists to masturbation) is a normal phase of human development. |