n :  a sexual perversion characterized by pleasure in being subjected to pain or humiliation esp. by a love object - compare ALGOLAGNIA SADISM  mas*och*is*tic adj mas*och*is*ti*cal*ly adv 
 
Sa•cher-Ma•soch, Leopold von (1836-1895), Austrian novelist. Sacher-Masoch is most famous for his erotic novels. In these novels the characters dwell at length on sexual pleasure derived from pain. The subject matter reflects Sacher-Masoch's personal life. He had two wives and several mistresses with whom he acted out the sexual fantasies described in his fictional works. Venus in Furs (1870), his most widely read work, reflects his own fetish for furs. By 1893 masochism was an established medical term.
 
   
 
Published under license with Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.  © 1997-2024.