Definition of masochist

The word "masochist" originates from the name of the Marquis de Sade's character, Jean-Marc-Ismarus, Baron de Sade, in his 1785 novel "The 120 Days of Sodom." The character is a nobleman named Masoch who is subjected to physical and emotional abuse. De Sade's novel was a scandalous work that explored themes of sexuality, sadism, and cruelty. Later, in 1870, the Austrian scientist and psychologist Richard von Krafft-Ebing used the term "masochism" in his book "Psychopathia Sexualis" to describe the sexual pleasure derived from being subjected to physical pain or humiliation. Krafft-Ebing borrowed the term from de Sade's novel and applied it to the psychological phenomenon of deriving sexual pleasure from pain or humiliation. Today, the term "masochist" refers to someone who enjoys or derives pleasure from experiencing pain, humiliation, or other forms of suffering.