contrectation

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noun

The initial stage of the sexual act involving manual contact and tumescence; sexual foreplay.

OriginLatin contrectātio →
Scrabble 17
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Meanings

nouncontrectation (countable and uncountable, plural contrectations)

plural contrectations

  1. countableuncountablelawThe initial stage of the sexual act involving manual contact and tumescence; sexual foreplay.

    Most animals have no desire for contrectation. In man the impulse of contrectation is the more important.

    1915, Bernard Simon Talmey, Love, a Treatise on the Science of Sex-attraction, page 107
    2 more examples

    Not to spoil his pleasure she allowed him the most intimate contrectations, stopping short only at cunnilingus.

    1916, American journal of urology and sexology, volume 12, page 165

    [W]e frequently meet with pubescent boys in whom the contrectation impulse, or the psychic component of sex, appears in isolated form.

    1946, A. A. Brill, Lectures on Psychoanalytic Psychiatry, Alfred Knopf, page 189
  2. countableobsoleteuncountableA touching or handling; manipulation.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
foreplay

Origin

  1. Latincontrectātio
  2. Englishcontrectation

Learned borrowing from Latin contrectātio, from contrectō (“to touch”).

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

contrectation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contrectation

MLA

“contrectation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contrectation. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “contrectation,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contrectation.

Source: contrectation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.