Sodom a town in ancient Palestine, probably south of the Dead Sea, which according to Genesis 19:24 was destroyed by fire from heaven, together with Gomorrah, the other of the two Cities of the Plain, for the wickedness of its inhabitants.

The term sodomy derives from the late Latin peccatum Sodomiticum ‘sin of Sodom’, since it is implied in Genesis 19:5 that the men of Sodom practised homosexual rape.

Sod·om / ˈsädəm/ a town in ancient Palestine, probably south of the Dead Sea. According to Gen. 19:24 it was destroyed by fire from heaven, together with Gomorrah, for the wickedness of its inhabitants. ∎  [as n.] (a Sodom) a wicked or depraved place.