[[Primatologi]] mengenal istilah ''genital-genital (GG) rubbing'' untuk mendeskripsikan perilaku seksual seperti [[tribadtribadisme]] pada [[bonobo]] betina<ref name="de Waal FB, 1995">{{cite journal|title=Bonobo Sex and Society |last=de Waal |first=Frans B. M. |authorlink=Frans de Waal |journal=[[Scientific American]] |volume=272 |issue=3 |pages=58–88 |date=March 1995 |pmid=7871411 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0395-82 |url=http://www.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de/uploads/media/Bonobo_sex_01.pdf |accessdate=21 December 2011 |quote=They also practice so-called penis-fencing, in which two males hang face to face from a branch while rubbing their erect penises together. ...Perhaps the bonobo's most typical sexual pattern, undocumented in any other primate, is genito-genital rubbing (or GG rubbing) between adult females. One female facing another clings with arms and legs to a partner that, standing on both hands and feet, lifts her off the ground. |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127051545/http://www.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de/uploads/media/Bonobo_sex_01.pdf |archivedate=27 January 2012 |df= }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Paoli T, Palagi E, Tacconi G, Tarli SB |title=Perineal swelling, intermenstrual cycle, and female sexual behavior in bonobos (Pan paniscus) |journal=Am J Primatol |volume=68 |issue=4 |pages=333–47 |date=Apr 2006 |pmid=16534808 |doi=10.1002/ajp.20228 }}</ref> serta pada pejantan (yang kadang disebut [[anggar penis]] [''penis fencing'']).<ref name="de Waal FB, 1995"/> Karena itu, perilaku saling menggesekkan penis antara pejantan diperkirakan telah ada sebelum pemisahan evolusi [[manusia]] dan bonobo.<ref>{{cite journal |last = M. | first = Hodge | authorlink = |first2=Evelyn|last2= Blackwood |first3=Jeffrey M.|last3= Dickemann |first4=Doug|last4=Jones |first5=Frank|last5= Muscarella |first6=Paul L.|last6= Vasey |first7=Walter L.|last7= Williams | title = The Evolution of Human Homosexual Behavior |url = https://archive.org/details/sim_current-anthropology_2000-06_41_3/page/385 | journal = Current Anthropology | volume = 41| issue = 3| pages = 385–413 | publisher = | year = 2000 | doi =10.1086/300145 | pmid=10768881}}</ref>
Definisi modern dari ''frot'' muncul dalam konteks perdebatan mengenai seks anal di kalangan pria gay. Beberapa yang tidak menyukai seks anal lebih memilih frot dan menganggap seks anal harus dihindari.<ref name="Advocate.com"/> Aktivis gay, Bill Weintraub, mulai mengkampanyekan istilah frot untuk menyebut penggesekan penis dan penis di forum-forum Internet pada akhir tahun 1990-an. Ia menyebutkan bahwa kata bahasa Prancis ''frottage'' dapat digunakan untuk perilaku erotis apapun yang melibatkan penggesekan sementara frot hanya berlaku untuk penis dan penis.<ref name="Piepenburg">{{cite magazine|first=Erik|last=Piepenburg|title=What's Rub Got to Do With it?|magazine=Out|issue=Maret 2006|accessdate=2011-02-18|pages=74, 76|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M2IEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA74}}</ref> Istilah lainnya adalah ''frictation'', yang juga dapat memiliki arti seperti ''frottage'',<ref>{{cite web | title = Aaron's Dictionary of Gay Terms, F | website = | url = http://www.aaronsgayinfo.com/AlphaMenu/Fterms.html | doi = | accessdate = | archive-date = 2007-10-12 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071012162837/http://aaronsgayinfo.com/AlphaMenu/Fterms.html | dead-url = yes }}</ref> ''sword-fighting,'' ''Oxford style,'' ''Princeton rub,'' dan ''Ivy League rub.''<ref name="Piepenburg"/>
