philematology

The Italians use the expression baciare co' denti (kiss with the teeth) to signify "to love." We can only treat these kisses as a sort of transitional link, of shorter or longer duration, according to circumstances. They are, as it were, "a sea fraught with perils," which in Mlle. [Madeleine] de Scudéry's celebrated letter (la carte de tendre), carries one to strange countries (les terres inconnues); but, as these countries lie outside the regions of pure philematology, I shall not pursue my investigations further.

1901, Christopher Nyrop, “Love Kisses”, in William Frederick Harvey, transl., The Kiss and Its History, London: Sands & Co., 12 Burleigh Street, Strand, →OCLC, page 49

Although philematology (the art and science of lip-locking) remains largely unstudied, researchers have proven that kissing not only decreases levels of cortisol, a chemical that creates stress, but also increases oxytocin, a chemical that heightens feelings of affection and potentially fights depression and disease.

2010, Michael J. Rosen, Ben Kassoy, M. Sweeney Lawless, “Waking Up on the Right Side of the Bed”, in Any Body’s Guess!: Quirky Quizzes about What Makes You Tick, Kansas City, Mo.: Andrews McMeel Publishing, →ISBN, page 170

"Now the flip side of this whole kissing as exercise thing is that, like, hundreds of bacteria are exchanged in a kiss—so you know …" she extended her arms in a balancing gesture, "it's all risk-benefit and yeah, all in the name of philematology—that's the actual scientific term used for the study of kissing. Oh and get this, a woman has usually kissed about seventy-nine men before she finally settles and gets married."

2011, Nicole Conn, Elena Undone, Tallahassee, Fla.: Bella Books, →ISBN