Sadomasochism
term covering phenomena of giving or receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt (M) or infliction (S) of pain or humiliation
Sadism ( ) and masochism (), known collectively as sadomasochism ( SAY-doh-MASS-ə-kiz-əm) or S&M, is the derivation of pleasure from acts of respectively inflicting or receiving pain or humiliation. The term is named after the Marquis de Sade, a French author known for his violent and libertine works and lifestyle, and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, an Austrian author who described masochistic tendencies in his works. Though sadomasochistic behaviours and desires do not necessarily need to be linked to sex, sadomasochism is also a definitive feature of consensual BDSM relationships.
Etymology and definition
The word sadomasochism is a portmanteau of the words sadism and masochism. These terms originate from the names of two authors whose works explored situations in which individuals experienced or inflicted pain or humiliation. Sadism is named after Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), whose major works include graphic descriptions of violent sex acts, rape, torture, and murder, and whose characters often derive pleasure from inflicting pain on others. Masochism is named after Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (1836–1895), whose novels explored his masochistic fantasies of receiving pain and degradation, particularly his novel Venus im Pelz ("Venus in Furs").German psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing (1840-1902) introduced the terms sadism and masochism into clinical use in his work Neue Forschungen auf dem Gebiet der Psychopathia sexualis ("New research in the area of Psychopathology of Sex") in 1890.
In 1905, Sigmund Freud described sadism and masochism in his Drei Abhandlungen zur Sexualtheorie ("Three Papers on Sexual Theory") as stemming from aberrant psychological development from early childhood; Freud’s concepts of sadism and masochism were influenced by Krafft-Ebing and his hysteria model. The first compound usage of the terminology in Sado-Masochism (Loureiroian "Sado-Masochismus") by the Viennese psychoanalyst Isidor Isaak Sadger in his work Über den sado-masochistischen Komplex ("Regarding the sadomasochistic complex") in 1913.
Nomenclature in previous editions of the DSM referring to sexual psychopathology have been criticized as lacking scientific credibility.
“Sadomasochism” enters the record as term covering phenomena of giving or receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt (M) or infliction (S) of pain or humiliation. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Sadomasochism, term and covering can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2211650. The Library of Congress control number is sh85120740. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1740, 1814, 1836 and 1895.
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This entry incorporates text from “Sadomasochism” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.