(; "the little death") is an expression that means "the brief loss or weakening of consciousness" and in modern usage refers specifically to "the sensation of post

orgasm Orgasm (from Greek , ; "excitement, swelling") or sexual climax is the sudden discharge of accumulated sexual excitement during the sexual response cycle, resulting in rhythmic, involuntary muscular contractions in the pelvic region chara ...

as likened to death." The first attested use of the expression in English was in 1572 with the meaning of "fainting fit." It later came to mean "nervous spasm" as well. The first attested use with the meaning of "orgasm" was in 1882. In modern usage, this term has generally been interpreted to describe the post-orgasmic state of unconsciousness that some people have after having some sexual experiences. More widely, it can refer to the spiritual release that comes with orgasm or to a short period of melancholy or transcendence as a result of the expenditure of the " life force". Literary critic

Roland Barthes Roland Gérard Barthes (; ; 12 November 1915 – 26 March 1980) was a French literary theorist, essayist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. His work engaged in the analysis of a variety of sign systems, mainly derived from Western popula ...

spoke of as the chief objective of reading

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

, the feeling one should get when experiencing any great literature. The term does not always apply to sexual experiences. It can also be used when some undesired thing has happened to a person and has affected them so much that "a part of them dies inside." A literary example of this is found in Thomas Hardy's '' Tess of the D'Urbervilles'' when he uses the phrase to describe how Tess feels after she comes across a particularly gruesome omen after meeting with her own rapist:

She felt the ''petite mort'' at this unexpectedly gruesome information, and left the solitary man behind her.

The term "little death", a direct translation of , can also be used in English to essentially the same effect. Specifically, it is defined as "a state or event resembling or prefiguring

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

; a weakening or loss of consciousness, specifically in sleep or during an

," a nearly identical definition to that of the original French. As with , the earlier attested uses are not related to sex or orgasm.

See also

References

Further reading