Glossary
Undinism
A word from 1928 you still run into in old books and rarely in a conversation.
What is undinism?
Undinism, today usually called urophilia, is an outdated word for sexual arousal from urine, from urinating, or from watching someone else urinate. The British sex researcher Havelock Ellis coined the term in 1928, after the water spirit undine. People now call this same area watersports or urine play, and in clinical language it is urolagnia.
| The word | undinism, outdated; today urophilia or urolagnia |
| Also known as | urolagnia and urophilia as clinical words, watersports and the Dutch plasseks as modern ones |
| Falls under | watersports, the broader term on this list |
| Origin | Havelock Ellis, 1928, after the water spirit undine |
| Main precaution | urine is not sterile, so keep it away from eyes, mouth, and open cuts |
Where the word comes from
From a single book. According to the etymology of undine, the sex researcher Havelock Ellis coined the word undinism in 1928 for a fondness for urine, one he had himself, and today that would be called urophilia. The encyclopedic entry on urolagnia lists undinism as an old synonym too, alongside urophilia, golden shower, and watersports.
Why people arrive at undinism
The pull is not in the fluid but in letting go of a rule about clean and dirty. The word is old, the wish is not. People seek it out for the surrender, to mark something, or simply because it turns them on. The hygiene question belongs with it right away. Urine is not sterile: Hilt and colleagues found live bacteria in 52 of 65 samples (80 percent) in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, so keep it away from eyes, mouth, and cuts.
Where this fits on my site
If you want an explanation of this area, you will find it on this site under the modern names. On watersports you can read how the word gets ticked on profiles, and on plasseks what does and does not pass through urine according to the RIVM, the Dutch public health institute. If you want to know whether there is room for a conversation about it, the page on the BDSM date explains how such a preliminary talk goes.
Sources
- Undine (etymology). Online Etymology Dictionary. Establishes that undinism was coined in 1928 by the sex researcher Havelock Ellis for a fondness for urine, which Ellis had himself, and that it would today be called urophilia.
- Urolagnia. Wikipedia. Provides the description of urolagnia as the paraphilia in which sexual arousal is linked to urine or urinating, and the synonyms urophilia, undinism, golden shower, and watersports.
- Urine Is Not Sterile. Hilt, McKinley, Pearce et al., Journal of Clinical Microbiology 52(3), 871-876, 2014. Establishes that 52 of 65 urine samples (80 percent) yielded bacteria under an expanded culture method, where the standard protocol had reported them as “no growth.”
Related terms
Undinism is the old word for what this site covers under watersports and plasseks; those pages carry the practice and the health question.
- Watersports. The broader, modern jargon word that undinism falls under.
- Plasseks. The Dutch umbrella word, with the RIVM guidelines on urine.
- Golden shower. The best-known single act within this same area.
- Fetish. The category under which a preference like this is usually placed.
Frequently asked questions
What people still ask about undinism.
What is undinism?
Undinism is an outdated word for sexual arousal from urine, from urinating, or from watching someone else urinate. The sex researcher Havelock Ellis coined the term in 1928. Today this same area is called watersports or urine play.
Is undinism the same as watersports?
Undinism and watersports are about the same thing: arousal around urine. Undinism is the old clinical word from 1928, and watersports is the modern jargon word people use on profiles now. The Dutch word for it is plasseks.
Who can you turn to with questions about undinism?
Victor, a gigolo with twenty-five years of experience in BDSM and a background as a psychotherapist. He’s glad to explain what this old word means today. You can ask him a question without obligation through the contact form or first chat for free.
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