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Pedophilia

//ˌpe.dəˈfɪ.li.ə// noun

Definitions

Noun

1
Sexual attraction by adults and adolescents to children, specifically prepubescent children. US, countable, uncountable
"As noted earlier, pedophilia was cited as both an aggravating and a mitigating circumstance by trial judges, as was the absence of pedophilia."
2
a sexual attraction to children wordnet
3
Sexual activity between adults and children; the act of child molestation. US, broadly, countable, proscribed, uncountable
"Fifteen months later, a committee of the congregation found that he had sexually abused several boys within the congregation. […] The fact that Alger committed pedophilia at the age of thirty-four casts a shadow over his subsequent yearning for relationships with boys and young men, but there is no evidence of any later misconduct."

Etymology

Adapted from German Pädophilie, bringing its spelling into conformity with pedo- (“child”) + -philia. Compare the Byzantine Greek παιδοφιλία (paidophilía, “love of children”).

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