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

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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

When Miller was seven years old, she was raped by a family friend while visiting relatives. —Simon Thompson, Forbes, 25 Sep. 2024

Rosselló was allegedly raped by Menendez a second time in a New York City hotel, per the petition. —Christine Pelisek, Peoplemag, 24 Sep. 2024

Graves was subsequently raped, according to the complaint. —Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Sep. 2024

Another woman testified at the court that, at age thirteen, she was held in the same cell; during her detention, she was raped by three men. —Jina Moore Ngarambe, The New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2024

There are more recent examples, experts said, such as in 1988 when Republican nominee George H.W. Bush, the sitting vice president, released an ad against then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis featuring Willie Horton, a Black man, who while temporarily released from prison, raped a white woman. —Phillip M. Bailey, USA TODAY, 19 Sep. 2024

Weinstein was also convicted in 2022 in Los Angeles of raping an Italian model, and was sentenced to an additional 16 years in prison. —Jordan Moreau, Variety, 18 Sep. 2024

Erik remembers the four different ways his father raped him as an 8 year old. —Ben Travers, IndieWire, 20 Sep. 2024

The suits accuse Combs of drugging and raping women in the 1990s and of participating in the gang rape of a 17-year-old in 2003. —Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes, 20 Sep. 2024

Noun

In 1992, Rita Chatterton who was the WWE’s first woman referee, accused McMahon of rape and reached a settlement with her in 2023. —Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 25 Sep. 2024

The abuse, which the brothers have described as physical assault and rape, was a key point of their defense and offered as the motivating factor for the murders of Jose and Kitty. —Maira Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2024

Retired Lansing Police Detective Catherine Farrell, Phillips’ friend Tiffany Horner and Phillips’ roommate at the time of the rape also testified. —Gina Barton, USA TODAY, 26 Sep. 2024

Worthy first discovered that over 11,000 untested rape kits were sitting on a shelf in an evidence room. —Stephanie Wenger, Peoplemag, 25 Sep. 2024

After a Michigan prosecutor found more than 11,000 untested rape kits on an office shelf, Hargitay worked to help the county raise the funding to test them. —EW.com, 25 Sep. 2024

One day, Rose learns of rape allegations against Sam. —Zac Ntim, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2024

Mars Volta singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala and his wife Chrissie Carnell-Bixler brought up Armstrong’s support of Danny Masterson during his rape trial. —Steven J. Horowitz, Variety, 19 Sep. 2024

Women and girls who were detained, often for violating the dress code, were at risk of rape. —Jina Moore Ngarambe, The New Yorker, 22 Sep. 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