rape

1 of 4

noun (1)

ˈrāp 

1

: unlawful sexual activity and usually sexual intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against a person's will or with a person who is beneath a certain age or incapable of valid consent because of mental illness, mental deficiency, intoxication, unconsciousness, or deception compare sexual assault, statutory rape

2

: an outrageous violation

3

: an act or instance of robbing or despoiling or carrying away a person by force

rape

2 of 4

verb

raped; raping

transitive verb

1

: to commit rape on

2

a

: despoil

b

archaic : to seize and take away by force

raper noun

rape

3 of 4

noun (2)

: an Old World herb (Brassica napus) of the mustard family grown as a forage crop and for its seeds which yield rapeseed oil and are a bird food compare canola

rape

4 of 4

noun (3)

: the pomace of grapes left after expression of the juice

Synonyms

Noun (1)

• assault
• ravishment
• sexual assault
• violation

Verb

• assault
• force
• ravish
• violate

Examples of rape in a Sentence

Noun (1)

an international law defining rape as a war crime

the legend of the rape of the Sabine women by the ancient Romans was frequently depicted in classical art

Verb

He is accused of raping the girl.

She was raped by a fellow student.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Hundreds were raped, assaulted, kidnapped, or held for ransom, according to documentation kept by the watchdog organization Human Rights First. —Jack Herrera, The New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2025

Read Next National Child makes 911 call as woman is killed by intruder in Nebraska home, police say February 10, 2025 8:15 AM Read Next National Man rapes college student then messages her on Instagram, MN cops say. —Mitchell Willetts, Kansas City Star, 5 Mar. 2025

Alleged joke about raping gay soldier In a twist, Worley's reprimand was based not on his political activism, but on his response to the gay soldier’s complaint. —Nick Penzenstadler, USA TODAY, 4 Mar. 2025

Shawn Carter participated in repeatedly raping her after the 2000 MTV VMAs. —Dominic Patten, Deadline, 3 Mar. 2025

Among other things Trump objected to, the film included a scene when Trump raped then-wife Ivanka Trump. —Toni Fitzgerald, Forbes, 3 Mar. 2025

Families, in a woefully misguided attempt to protect their shared sense of dignity, murdering their own daughters, sisters, or wives who had been raped. —Amanda Nguyen, TIME, 3 Mar. 2025

Later, she was locked in a bedroom in their New York apartment and raped again. —Claire Healy, Miami Herald, 1 Mar. 2025

In December of 2023, the University of Illinois immediately suspended basketball player Terrance Shannon after he was charged with raping a woman in Kansas on Sept. 8. —Mac Engel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Feb. 2025

Noun

Following the rape, the man's sobbing and about to plunge to his death. —Matt Cabral, EW.com, 23 Feb. 2025

The other person who found flaws in Friedmann's rape story was Judge Stephen Dozier. —Keith Sharon, USA TODAY, 20 Feb. 2025

The filing claims that each of the brothers has been accused of forcible rape by at least 10 women. —Liam Quinn, People.com, 19 Feb. 2025

Members of the legislature’s powerful budget-writing committee explicitly approved the use of the money to work through the rape kit back log. —Nick Coltrain, The Denver Post, 19 Feb. 2025

These include the notion that women are responsible when the victim of a rape attack; that men are the protectors of women, who should be subservient; and that men are frequently victims of false rape claims, among other fringe beliefs he’s publicly espoused. —Kevin Dolak, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Feb. 2025

In May 2017, Itō held a press conference, going public with her rape allegation. —Matthew Carey, Deadline, 17 Feb. 2025

The number of rapes against children carried out by armed groups, already rampant in the region, has soared in recent weeks, according to UNICEF. —Justin Makangara, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2025

Kelly faces felony charges of rape, second-degree domestic battery and first-degree terroristic threatening as well as misdemeanor counts of first-degree interfering with emergency communications and violation of a no-contact order, the report states. —Grant Lancaster, arkansasonline.com, 15 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English, "violent seizure, abduction of a woman with the intent of sexually assaulting her," borrowed from Anglo-French rap, rape, probably borrowed from Medieval Latin rapum, noun derivative of rapiō, rapere "to seize and carry off, abduct a woman with the intent of sexually assaulting her" — more at rape entry 2

Note: Use of this word in its most predominant modern meaning is attested early in legal Anglo-French and British Medieval Latin, though the precise derivational pathways are uncertain. The Latin word may have been based on the Anglo-French word, but both must ultimately be dependent on the classical Latin verb. Note that rapum exists alongside classical Latin raptus, the regularly derived u-stem verbal noun, used in British Medieval Latin in the sense "rape." Compare ravish.

Verb

Middle English rapen "to abduct a woman with the intent of sexually assaulting her," borrowed from Anglo-French raper, borrowed from Medieval Latin rapiō, rapere "to seize and carry off, abduct a woman with of the intent of sexually assaulting her," going back to Latin, "to seize and carry off, take away by force, carry off a woman with the intent of sexually assaulting her, carry or sweep along, impel forcibly (to a course of conduct), snatch up, gather quickly" — more at rapid entry 1

Note: The verb rapen in its predominant modern sense is rare in Middle English, the more common verb meaning "to rape" being ravisshen "to ravish." The Middle English Dictionary lists rapen with a meaning "to carry off, transport (the soul to heaven)," but all forms cited are for a past participle rapt, rapte, which appears to have been borrowed directly from Medieval Latin raptus, past participle of rapere in this sense (see rapt). See also the note at rape entry 1.

Noun (2)

Middle English, "turnip, Brassica napus," borrowed from Latin rāpa, rāpum "turnip"; akin to Germanic *rōbjōn- "turnip" (whence Middle Dutch & Middle Low German rove, Old High German ruoba, ruoppa), Lithuanian rópė, Greek rháphys, rhápys (all going back to an earlier *rāp(h)-), Church Slavic (eastern) rěpa, Polish rzepa (going back to *rēp-), Welsh erfin "turnips, rape," Breton irvin (going back to *arb-īno-, perhaps metathesized from *rab-), all from a substratal pre-Indo-European word of uncertain form

Note: The Greek forms with fluctuating aspiration, as well as the derivative rháphanos "any of various cultivars of Brassica oleracea, radish," with the suffix -anos, argue for membership in the same pre-Greek substratum as a number of other Greek words; whether the other European forms are borrowed from this etymon or are part of a more general substratum is unclear (see Robert Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2010, p. 1277). Not related to Old Norse rófa "tail" (see Guus Kroonen, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Brill, 2013, p. 415).

Noun (3)

French râpe grape stalk

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2b

Noun (2)

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun (3)

1657, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing rape

• acquaintance rape
• anti-rape
• date rape
• date rape drug
• gang rape
• oilseed rape
• statutory rape

Rhymes for rape

• ape
• cape
• crape
• crepe
• drape
• gape
• grape
• pape
• scape
• scrape
• shape
• snape

Kids Definition

rape

1 of 3 noun

ˈrāp 

: an herb related to the mustards that is grown for animals to graze on and for its seeds which are used as birdseed and as a source of oil

compare canola

rape

2 of 3 verb

raped; raping

1

archaic : to take away by force

2

: to have sexual relations with by force

raper noun

rapist

ˈrā-pəst 

noun

rape

3 of 3 noun

: an act or instance of raping

Etymology

Noun

Middle English rape "the herb rape," from Latin rapa, rapum "turnip, rape"

Verb

Middle English rapen "to take away by force," from Latin rapere "to seize"

Medical Definition

rape

1 of 3 noun

ˈrāp 

: a European herb (Brassica napus) of the mustard family grown as a forage crop and for its seeds which yield rapeseed oil and are a bird food see canola sense 1

rape

2 of 3 transitive verb

raped; raping

: to commit rape on

rape

3 of 3 noun

: unlawful sexual activity and usually sexual intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against the will usually of a female or with a person who is beneath a certain age or incapable of valid consent compare sexual assault, statutory rape

Legal Definition

rape

1 of 2 transitive verb

raped; raping

: to commit rape on

raper noun

rapist noun

rape

2 of 2 noun

: unlawful sexual activity and usually sexual intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against the will usually of a female or with a person who is beneath a certain age or incapable of valid consent because of mental illness, mental deficiency, intoxication, unconsciousness, or deception see also statutory rape

Note: The common-law crime of rape involved a man having carnal knowledge of a woman not his wife through force and against her will, and required at least slight penetration of the penis into the vagina. While some states maintain essentially this definition of rape, most have broadened its scope especially in terms of the sex of the persons and the nature of the acts involved. Marital status is usually irrelevant. Moreover, the crime is codified under various names, including first degree sexual assault, sexual battery, unlawful sexual intercourse, and first degree sexual abuse.

Etymology

Transitive verb

Latin rapere to seize and take away by force