Etymograph

English

fellatio

Fellatio comes from Latin fellō ‘to suck, to fellate’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- ‘to suckle, nurse’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁(y)-1‘to suckle, nurse’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁(i)-l-éh₂-ye-ti2reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*θēlājō2reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fēlājō2reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfellō1‘to suck, to fellate’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfellātiō1perfect participle of fellō
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1897fellatio1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English fellatio
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin fello
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1897, Havelock Ellis: “In 7 oder 8 anderen Fällen ging die geschlechtliche…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁(y)-Wiktionary, English fellatio‘to suckle, nurse’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁(i)-l-éh₂-ye-tiWiktionary, Latin felloreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*θēlājōWiktionary, Latin felloreconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fēlājōWiktionary, Latin felloreconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfellōWiktionary, English fellatio‘to suck, to fellate’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfellātiōWiktionary, English fellatioperfect participle of fellō
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1897fellatioWiktionary, English fellatio. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1897, Havelock Ellis: “In 7 oder 8 anderen Fällen ging die geschlechtliche…”

The story

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.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- ‘to suckle, nurse’

female, feminist, doe, feminism, tyre, fetus, dai, fawn, felicity, femme, femininity, filial, effeminate, fecundity, dahi, 30 more

Today it means

noun Performance of oral sex upon the penis.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fellatio”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin fello. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- / fellatio

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