# fellatio

> English word · Noun · IPA /fəˈleɪ.ʃi.əʊ/ · frequency rank #53,538

## Definitions
1. Performance of oral sex upon the penis.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)-
Latin fellō
Proto-Indo-European *-tisder.
Proto-Italic *-tjō
Latin -tiō
Latin fellātiōlbor.
English fellatio
Learned borrowing from Latin fellātiō, from fellātus, perfect participle of fellō (“I suck, I fellate”). The word started to appear in medical literature in the 19th century but it was still treated as Latin. In 1919, the California Supreme Court struck down a law criminalizing fellatio because the state constitution required laws to be written in English. By the late 20th century, fellatio was treated as an English word.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/fellatio