Terminology
The term comes from the Ecclesiastical Latin: peccatum Sodomiticum, or "sin of Sodom" and is derived from the Greek word Σόδομα Sódoma. The Book of Genesis (chapters 18-20) tells how God wished to destroy the sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Two angels (literally "messengers") are invited by Lot to take refuge with his family for the night. The men of Sodom surrounded Lot's house and demanded that he bring the messengers out, so that they can "know" them. Lot protests that the "messengers" are his guests, and offers them his virgin daughters instead, but the Sodomites threaten to "do worse" with Lot than with his guests; whereupon the angels strike the Sodomites blind, "so that they wearied themselves to find the door." (Genesis 19:4-11, KJV)
In current usage, the term is particularly used in law. Laws prohibiting sodomy were seen frequently in past Jewish, Christian, and Islamic civilizations, but the term has little modern usage outside Africa, the Islamic countries and the United States. In the various criminal codes of the U.S. the term "sodomy" has generally been replaced by "Deviant sexual intercourse", which is described as any form of penetrative intercourse or cunnilingus between unmarried persons. These laws have been challenged and have sometimes been found unconstitutional or been replaced with different legislation. Elsewhere, the legal use of the term "sodomy" is restricted to rape cases where anal penetration has taken place.
In French, the word "sodomie" (verb "sodomiser"), and in Spanish, the word "sodomía" (verb sodomizar), is used exclusively for anal penetration.
In modern German, the word "Sodomie" has no connotation of anal or oral sex, and refers specifically to bestiality. (See Paragraph 175 StGB, version of June 28, 1935.) The same goes for the Polish "sodomia". The Norwegian word "sodomi" carries both senses.
In Arabic and Persian, the word for sodomy, لواط (Arabic pronunciation: liwāṭ; Persian pronunciation lavât), is derived from the same source as in Western culture, with much the same connotations as English (referring to most sexual acts prohibited by the Qur'an). Its direct reference is to Lot (لوط Lūṭ in Arabic), and a more literal interpretation of the word is "the practice of Lot," but more accurately it means "the practice of Lot's people" (the Sodomites) rather than Lot himself.
The word "sod", a noun or verb (to "sod off") used as an insult, is derived from sodomite. It is a general-purpose insult term for anyone the speaker dislikes without specific reference to their sexual behaviour. Sod is used as slang in the UK and Commonwealth and is mildly offensive.
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