Named after von Sader-Masoch, this describes one who
recieves pleasure from pain. Although primarily sexual in this context, it has also entered the idiom as slang for someone seeking out situations they lose in.
A glutton for punishment is a masochistic person.
Reference: My trusty Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, (c)1942. 29 years more up-to-date that Webster 1913! | 
