Crime against nature

crime against nature

n. an old fashioned term for sodomy (anal sexual intercourse), which has been a crime in most states. Several states have removed consensual anal intercourse between consenting adults from the crime. However, in Indiana an ex-wife insisted on a criminal charge of sodomy being filed against her former husband, even though the act was consensual and during their marriage, and was convicted. The term is also applied to sexual intercourse between a human and an animal (bestiality) which is a crime in most states. (See: sodomy, bestiality)

CRIME AGAINST NATURE. Sodomy. It is a crime not fit to be named; peccatum horribile, inter christianos non nominandum. 4 Bl. Com. 214. See Sodomy.