karezza means non-religious spiritual sexual practices that draw upon tantric techniques of body control but do not involve any of tantra's cultural or iconographic symbolism; intended to promote birth control, equality for women, and marital pleasure and fidelity. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 90 out of 100.
karezza is pronounced /kɑˈɹɛtsə/.
Why “karezza” is a great word
KAREZZA — [Noun] A spiritual sexual practice, derived from tantric body control techniques but stripped of its cultural symbolism, intended to promote birth control, marital fidelity, and equality by emphasizing prolonged intimacy and avoiding orgasm. Coined in 1896 by Alice Bunker Stockham from Italian *carezza* ("caress"). Doublet of *caress*. Unlike "tantra," which denotes a holistic Indian spiritual tradition, or "coitus reservatus," which specifies a contraceptive technique, karezza adopts the method for a secular, Western philosophy of intimate relationship. It is the sustained pressure of a palm on the small of a back, the quiet rhythm of breath synchronized for continuity, and the deliberate, aching restraint that transmutes urgency into a slower heat—a pragmatic mysticism that sought to reorder society through the careful management of desire.
Etymology
Coined by Alice Bunker Stockham from Italian carezza (“caress”). Doublet of caress.
noun
- Non-religious spiritual sexual practices that draw upon tantric techniques of body control but do not involve any of tantra's cultural or iconographic symbolism; intended to promote birth control, equality for women, and marital pleasure and fidelity.“Karezza seems to me to be the sex-blending of the moral natures, it seems to call out and arouse to an ecstasy of delight and power the spiritual and poetic nature of both man and woman. It gives strength as if it were the key to unlock powers.”