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

What To Know In a civil suit filed in a New York federal court on December 8, an anonymous plaintiff alleged that she was raped at the age of 13 while attending an afterparty following the MTV Video Music Awards in New York City on September 7, 2000. —Dan Perry, Newsweek, 18 Dec. 2024

The woman, who filed under Jane Doe and is being represented by Texas attorney Tony Buzbee, claimed she was raped by Carter and Combs after she was driven to an MTV Video Music Awards afterparty in 2000 as a still-unnamed female celebrity watched. —Kimberlee Speakman, People.com, 17 Dec. 2024

Mangum later claimed that she was raped by several attendees, including university students. —The Editors, National Review, 17 Dec. 2024

Graves filed a federal lawsuit in New York claiming she was raped by Combs and his former bodyguard in 2001, an allegation later disputed by the bodyguard, Joseph Sherman, in a November countersuit. —Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes, 16 Dec. 2024

Mangum later accuses several players of raping her during the party early on March 14. —Alaa Elassar, CNN, 14 Dec. 2024

The kidnappers, who repeatedly raped Zhang, eventually drove Lin to a wooded area in Queens, where one of them shot him twice in the head. —John Annese, New York Daily News, 14 Dec. 2024

However, the suit was refiled on Sunday (Dec. 8) to include Carter, claiming that the mogul raped the girl while Diddy and an unnamed celebrity woman watched. —Marc Griffin, VIBE.com, 13 Dec. 2024

Trump campaigned on resuming federal executions and expanding their use to kill people convicted of drug trafficking and human smuggling, migrants who kill U.S. citizens and police officers, and those convicted of raping children. —Brian Bennett, TIME, 13 Dec. 2024

Noun

Centrist Democrats are pro-choice, unequivocally in the case of rape and the health of the mother, but accept limitations at the point of fetal viability. —Colin Pascal, Baltimore Sun, 7 Dec. 2024

Police say a Louisville cold case involving the rape of a 17-year-old girl in 2005 has been solved nearly two decades later with DNA testing. —Marina Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 6 Dec. 2024

In September 2023, Williams announced the indictment of Hecker in connection with the rape of a teenager on Jan. 1, 1975 and Dec. 31, 1976. —Kimberlee Speakman, People.com, 4 Dec. 2024

Tate has also been accused of rape, and their case remains ongoing. —Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 3 Dec. 2024

But here in Avignon – and nearby Mazan where the rapes took place – the trial has touched a particular nerve with local women, with something resembling fandom for Ms. Pelicot. —Colette Davidson, The Christian Science Monitor, 3 Dec. 2024

There were no connections between Tracy and Guillot Jr and detectives believe this was a stranger abduction, rape and murder. —Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 2 Dec. 2024

Licenses are only granted if the prospective employer meets certain criteria, including having no previous convictions for rape or human trafficking. —Anna Cooban, CNN, 2 Dec. 2024

Anonymous rape threats have been left on the TikTok videos of women denouncing the election results. —Christine Fernando, Los Angeles Times, 30 Nov. 2024

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

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