{{short description|Form of kissing using tongue-to-tongue interaction}} {{about|the type of kiss}} thumb|A heterosexual couple French kissing
A '''French kiss''', also known as a '''tongue kiss''', is an amorous kiss in which the participants' tongues 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 release and reduce acute stress levels.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Why Is Kissing Important? 16 Health Benefits of Kissing |url=https://www.medicinenet.com/why_is_kissing_important/article.htm |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=MedicineNet |language=en}}</ref>
Extended French kissing may be part of making out. The term originated at the beginning of the 20th century in the United States 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 kiss in which the participants' tongues extend to touch each other's lips or tongue.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of FRENCH-KISS |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/French-kiss |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}</ref> 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 zones of the body.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Maister |first=Lara |last2=Fotopoulou |first2=Aikaterini |last3=Turnbull |first3=Oliver |last4=Tsakiris |first4=Manos |date=12 June 2020 |title=The Erogenous Mirror: Intersubjective and Multisensory Maps of Sexual Arousal in Men and Women |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10508-020-01756-1 |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |language=en |volume=49 |issue=8 |pages=2919–2933 |doi=10.1007/s10508-020-01756-1 |issn=0004-0002 |pmc=7641941 |pmid=32533518 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250409075910/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-020-01756-1 |archive-date=9 April 2025 |access-date=29 April 2025}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Erika W. |title=What It Means To Get To First Base, & We're Not Talking Baseball |url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/what-is-first-base |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=www.refinery29.com |language=en}}</ref> Extended French kissing may be part of making out.
== History == Open-mouth kissing is alluded to in Sanskrit texts from 1500 BCE, and the ''Kama Sutra'' from the 3rd century mentions kissing inside of mouths.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-07-15 |title=Did French kissing start in France? |url=https://people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/cultural-traditions/did-french-kissing-start-in-france.htm |access-date=2022-05-03 |website=HowStuffWorks |language=en}}</ref> The term ''cataglottism'' was described in 17th and 18th century English dictionaries to mean "the thrusting out the tongue in kissing."<ref name="MerriamWebsterKissing">{{cite web |title=When 'Kiss' Isn't Enough |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/kissing-words |website=www.merriam-webster.com |access-date=18 February 2026 |language=en}}</ref>
== 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.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.yourtango.com/2013188093/pucker-origin-french-kiss | title=Pucker Up: The Origin Of The French Kiss | first=Michelle | last=Toglia | date=2013-07-12 | publisher=Tango Media | access-date=2018-10-29 | archive-date=2018-07-25 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725092751/https://www.yourtango.com/2013188093/pucker-origin-french-kiss | url-status=live }}</ref> In France, 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").<ref>{{Cite web |date=30 May 2013 |title=Finally, a French word for a French kiss |url=http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/30/18616036-finally-a-french-word-for-a-french-kiss?lite |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130709125222/http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/30/18616036-finally-a-french-word-for-a-french-kiss?lite |archive-date=2013-07-09 |access-date=2022-05-03}}</ref> The Petit Robert 2014 French dictionary, released in 2013, added the French verb "se galocher", slang for kissing with tongues.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Neuman|first=Scott|date=2013-05-30|title=A Kiss Is But A Kiss, But To French Kiss Is 'Galocher'|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/05/30/187345073/a-kiss-is-but-a-kiss-but-to-french-kiss-is-galocher|access-date=2020-12-18|website=NPR|language=en|archive-date=2021-04-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418153155/https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/05/30/187345073/a-kiss-is-but-a-kiss-but-to-french-kiss-is-galocher|url-status=live}}</ref> The informal English term "frenching" also means French kissing,<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Hsieh|first1=Carina|last2=Smothers|first2=Hannah|date=2020-06-19|title=Your Everything Guide to How to French Kiss|url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/a23867284/how-to-french-kiss-tongue/|access-date=2020-12-18|website=Cosmopolitan|language=en-US|archive-date=2020-12-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205190947/https://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/a23867284/how-to-french-kiss-tongue/|url-status=live}}</ref> as does the Quebec French term "frencher".
== Disease risks == A study showed that French kissing can carry moderate risk of HPV.<ref>{{cite web|title="French" kissing ups risk of oral HPV infection|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hpv-infection-idUSTRE54B61920090512|publisher=Reuters|access-date=12 May 2009}}</ref> However, June Gupta, the associate director of medical standards at Planned Parenthood, 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."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.inverse.com/article/52385-can-you-get-hpv-from-kissing-experts|title=Can You Get HPV From Kissing? Sexual Health Experts Address a Common Fear}}</ref> The possibility of contracting HIV from French kissing is extremely low, as transmission would require open wounds.<ref>{{cite web|title=HIV/AIDS 101|url=https://www.cdc.gov/CDCTV/HivAids101/Transcripts/HivAids101.pdf|publisher=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention|access-date=12 May 2015|archive-date=1 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170601183914/https://www.cdc.gov/cdctv/HivAids101/Transcripts/HivAids101.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Man with HIV may have infected partner with a kiss|url=http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9707/10/nfm.aids.kiss/|publisher=CNN|access-date=12 May 2015|date=10 July 1997|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304122141/http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9707/10/nfm.aids.kiss/|url-status=live}}</ref> The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers transmission of Hepatitis B via French kissing to be an unlikely mode of infection.<ref name="cdc.gov">{{cite web | url=https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/hepb.pdf | title=Hepatitis B | date=2012-05-08 | work=CDC | access-date=2015-05-12 | archive-date=2020-08-13 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813194104/https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/hepb.pdf | url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hepb.org/blog/much-really-know-sex-hepatitis-b-take-quiz-find/|title=How Much Do You Really Know About Sex and Hepatitis B? Take This Quiz and Find Out| date=21 September 2016 |access-date=2021-12-01|archive-date=2021-12-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201190352/https://www.hepb.org/blog/much-really-know-sex-hepatitis-b-take-quiz-find/|url-status=live}}</ref> Occasionally, syphilis can be passed through prolonged French kissing,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.webmd.com/sexual-conditions/syphilis | title=Syphilis Symptoms, Causes, and Diagnosis | publisher=WebMD | access-date=2015-05-12 | archive-date=2020-09-25 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925000522/https://www.webmd.com/sexual-conditions/syphilis | url-status=live }}</ref> but this usually requires contact with an active lesion.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.antimicrobe.org/b242.asp | title=Treponema Pallidum (Syphilis) | first1=Lori E. | last1=Fantry | first2=Edmund C. | last2=Tramont | access-date=2015-05-12 | archive-date=2015-03-12 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150312210405/http://www.antimicrobe.org/b242.asp | url-status=live }}</ref> French kissing is an unlikely mode of transmission of infection by gonorrhea.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/oral-gonorrhea_b_1095670 | title=Oral Gonorrhea? Yes, You Can Get Gonorrhea of the Mouth and Throat | first=Thomas P. | last=Connelly, D.D.S. | date=2012-01-23 | work=The Huffington Post | access-date=2015-05-12 | archive-date=2020-05-07 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507203118/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/oral-gonorrhea_b_1095670 | url-status=live }}</ref> It can also be a medium to spread meningitis.
== In other species == {{As of|2019}}, bonobos are the only species, other than humans, to have been observed engaging in tongue kissing.<ref name="Manson1997">{{cite journal |vauthors=Manson JH, Perry S, Parish AR |year=1997 |title=Nonconceptive Sexual Behavior in Bonobos and Capuchins |journal=International Journal of Primatology |volume=18 |issue=5 |pages=767–86 |doi=10.1023/A:1026395829818 |s2cid=3032455}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-05-21 |title=The Scandalous Social Lives of Bonobos |url=https://www.britannica.com/explore/savingearth/the-scandalous-social-lives-of-bonobos |access-date=2022-05-03 |website=Saving Earth {{!}} Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Garrod |first=Ben |date=May 22, 2019 |title=Bonobo mothers meddle in their sons' lives to help them find sex partners |url=https://qz.com/africa/1625409/bonobo-ape-mothers-push-their-sons-to-find-sex-partners/ |access-date=2022-05-03 |website=Quartz |language=en}}</ref>
==See also== * Lip kiss * Socialist fraternal kiss
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons category |Tongue kisses}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20170722213926/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08y007w Discussion of the "biochemistry, psychology, anthropology and history of kissing"] on BBC Radio 4 in July 2017.
{{DEFAULTSORT:French Kiss}} Category:Oral eroticism Category:Kissing Category:Tongue