Fellatio also known as fellation , [ 1 ] and in slang as blowjob , BJ , giving head , or sucking off [ 2 ] is an oral sex act consisting of the stimulation of a penis by using the mouth. It may be performed by a sexual partner as foreplay before other sexual activities , such as vaginal or anal intercourse, [ 8 ] [ 9 ] or as an erotic and physically intimate act of its own.
Most countries do not have laws banning the practice of fellatio, though some cultures may consider it taboo. French fellation. The -io n ending is used in English to create nouns from Latin adjectives and it can indicate a state or action wherein the Latin verb is being, or has been, performed.
Further English words have been created based on the same Latin root. A person who performs fellatio upon another i. Latin's gender based declension means this word may be restricted to describing a male. The equivalent term for a female is fellatrix. The essential aspect of fellatio is oral stimulation of the penis including the shaft and glans through sucking with the mouth, use of the tongue for licking, using the lips, or some combination.
Performing fellatio can trigger the gag reflex. It is physically possible for men with sufficient flexibility, penis size, or both, to perform fellatio on themselves as a form of masturbation , in an act called autofellatio. However, few men possess the flexibility and penis length to safely perform the necessary frontbend. During fellatio, a partner may ingest semen from the penis. As late as , some doctors were advising women in the eighth and ninth months of pregnancy not to swallow semen lest it induce premature labor, but it was later determined to be safe.
The receiver of fellatio typically becomes sexually aroused. Once the prerequisite level of sexual stimulation has been achieved and ejaculation becomes imminent, the semen may be discharged onto his partner.
