Necrophilia
![The Hatred, painted by Pietro Pajetta, 1896.](/Images/godic/202502/15/Pietro_Pajetta_-_Der_Hass_-_18960925.jpeg")
![A male black and white tegu mounts a female that has been dead for two days and attempts to mate. Photo by Ivan Sazima.[16]](/Images/godic/202502/15/Salvator_merianae_-_necrophilia0926.jpg")
![A male giant ameiva mounts a dead female and attempts to pair cloacae. Photos by E. T. da Silva.[18]](/Images/godic/202502/15/Ameiva_ameiva_-_necrophilia0926.jpg")
Necrophilia, also called thanatophilia, is a sexual attraction or sexual act involving corpses. The attraction is classified as a paraphilia by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association. The term was coined by the Belgian alienist Joseph Guislain, who first used it in a lecture in 1850. It derives from the Greek words νεκρός (nekros; "dead") and φιλία (philia; "love").