A French kiss, also known as cataglottism or a tongue kiss, is an amorous

kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

in which the participants'

tongue The tongue is a Muscle, muscular organ (anatomy), organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for chewing and swallowing as part of the digestive system, digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper s ...

s extend to touch each other's lips or tongue. A kiss with the tongue stimulates the partner's lips, tongue and mouth, which are sensitive to the touch and induce sexual arousal. The sensation when two tongues touch—also known as tongue touching—has been proven to stimulate

endorphin Endorphins (contracted from endogenous morphine) are peptides produced in the brain that block the perception of pain and increase feelings of wellbeing. They are produced and stored in the pituitary gland of the brain. Endorphins are endogeno ...

release and reduce acute stress levels. Extended French kissing may be part of

making out Making out is a term of American English, American origin dating back to at least 1949, and is used to refer to kissing, including extended French kissing or ''necking'' (heavy kissing of the neck, and above), or to acts of non-penetrative s ...

. The term originated at the beginning of the 20th century in America and Great Britain, as the French had acquired a reputation for more adventurous and passionate sex practices. French kissing may be a mode for disease transmission, particularly if there are open wounds.

Description

A French kiss is an amorous

in which the participants'

s extend to touch each other's lips or tongue. A tongue kiss stimulates the partner's lips, tongue and mouth, which are sensitive to the touch and induce sexual arousal, as the oral zone is one of the principal

erogenous zone An erogenous zone (from Greek , ''érōs'' "love"; and English ''-genous'' "producing", from Greek , ''-genḗs'' "born") is an area of the human body that has heightened Sensory processing, sensitivity, the sexual stimulation, stimulation of wh ...

s of the body. The implication is of a slow, passionate kiss which is considered intimate, romantic, erotic or sexual. French kissing is often described as " first base", and is used by many as an indicator of what stage a relationship has reached. Extended French kissing may be part of

History

Open-mouth kissing is alluded to in Sanskrit texts from 1500 BCE, and the ''

Kama Sutra The ''Kama Sutra'' (; , , ; ) is an ancient Indian Hindu Sanskrit text on sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfillment. Attributed to Vātsyāyana, the ''Kamasutra'' is neither exclusively nor predominantly a sex manual on sex positions ...

'' from the 3rd century mentions kissing inside of mouths.

Etymology

A French kiss is so called because at the beginning of the 20th century, in the English-speaking world, the French had acquired a reputation for more adventurous and passionate sex practices. It originated in America and Great Britain. In

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, it is referred to as ''un baiser amoureux'' ("a lover's kiss") or ''un baiser avec la langue'' ("a kiss with the tongue"), and was previously known as ''un baiser Florentin'' ("a Florentine kiss"). The

Petit Robert ''Le Petit Robert de la Langue Française'' (), known as just ''Petit Robert'', is a popular single-volume French dictionary first published by Paul Robert in 1967. It is an abridgement of his eight-volume ''Dictionnaire alphabétique et analo ...

2014 French dictionary, released in 2013, added the French verb "se galocher", slang for kissing with tongues. The informal English term "frenching" also means French kissing, as does the

Quebec French Quebec French ( ), also known as Québécois French, is the predominant variety (linguistics), variety of the French language spoken in Canada. It is the dominant language of the province of Quebec, used in everyday communication, in education, ...

term "frencher".

Disease risks

A study showed that French kissing can carry moderate risk of HPV. However, June Gupta, the associate director of medical standards at

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization

, has described kissing as a low-risk activity, stating that there is "almost no risk, or a very very low risk of getting STDs through these acts." The possibility of contracting HIV from French kissing is extremely low, as transmission would require open wounds. The

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the National public health institutes, national public health agency of the United States. It is a Federal agencies of the United States, United States federal agency under the United S ...

considers transmission of

Hepatitis B Hepatitis B is an infectious disease caused by the '' hepatitis B virus'' (HBV) that affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. It can cause both acute and chronic infection. Many people have no symptoms during an initial infection. ...

via French kissing to be an unlikely mode of infection. However, deep kissing that involves the exchange of large amounts of saliva might result in infection if there are cuts or abrasions in the mouth of the infected person, especially if they have a high viral load. Occasionally,

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...

can be passed through prolonged French kissing, but this usually requires contact with an active lesion. French kissing is an unlikely mode of transmission of infection by

gonorrhea Gonorrhoea or gonorrhea, colloquially known as the clap, is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the bacterium ''Neisseria gonorrhoeae''. Infection may involve the genitals, mouth, or rectum. Gonorrhea is spread through sexual c ...

. It can also be a medium to spread

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, intense headache, vomiting and neck stiffness and occasion ...

In other species

bonobo The bonobo (; ''Pan paniscus''), also historically called the pygmy chimpanzee (less often the dwarf chimpanzee or gracile chimpanzee), is an endangered great ape and one of the two species making up the genus ''Pan (genus), Pan'' (the other bei ...

s are the only species, other than humans, to have been observed engaging in tongue kissing.

References

External links

Discussion of the "biochemistry, psychology, anthropology and history of kissing"
on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

in July 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:French Kiss Oral eroticism Kissing Tongue de:Kuss#Zungenkuss