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 of rape

Noun (1)

• violation
• assault

Verb

• violate
• assault
• force

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

Noun

Willie James Little, 57, was arrested April 16 and charged with second degree rape and first degree burglary, CMPD said in an April 23 news release. —Mark Price, Charlotte Observer, 24 Apr. 2026

Rutledge is now charged under separate rape statutes. —Brittany Miller, FOXNews.com, 24 Apr. 2026

Part of Knight’s warrant paperwork, filed with the Florida Supreme Court, mistakenly included the name of James Ernest Hitchcock, who is scheduled to be executed on April 30 for the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl in Winter Garden. —Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 23 Apr. 2026

During her nine-month-long abduction at age 14, Smart was subjected to daily rapes and endured physical abuse and starvation. —Cara Lynn Shultz, PEOPLE, 23 Apr. 2026

The judge also granted a defense motion to dismiss two of the six rape charges. —Caroline Foreback, CBS News, 23 Apr. 2026

The perpetrator of both a 1991 murder and a 1993 rape, both in Brockton, has been identified thanks to new DNA and investigative techniques. —Flint McColgan, Boston Herald, 23 Apr. 2026

Weinstein’s earlier rape conviction in New York was overturned by the state’s highest court on the grounds that prosecutors were allowed to introduce prejudicial testimony from women who claimed they were assaulted, but whose allegations were not charged. —Gene Maddaus, Variety, 23 Apr. 2026

Multiple women came forward with detailed and serious allegations—including specific claims of drugging, rape, and assault—relatively quickly after initial reports, suggesting a verifiable pattern rather than mere unsubstantiated rumor. —Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2026

Verb

She had been raped and strangled. —Francie Ebert, NBC news, 25 Apr. 2026

Tong referenced an expose on CNN that revealed a network of websites and group chats on platforms like Telegram in which men uploaded videos of drugging and raping their wives and advised others how to do the same. —Emilia Otte, Hartford Courant, 24 Apr. 2026

Bell was raped in Brockton in 1993. —Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 24 Apr. 2026

The woman, who said Swalwell raped her in a New York City hotel in April 2024, shared her story with CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle earlier this month. —Allison Gordon, CNN Money, 24 Apr. 2026

The man then raped her and then moved at her with a sharp object, Cruz said. —Flint McColgan, Boston Herald, 23 Apr. 2026

The 16-year-old boy charged with raping and killing his 18-year-old stepsister aboard a cruise ship in November pleaded not guilty to the crime this week. —David Goodhue april 23, Miami Herald, 23 Apr. 2026

Weinstein was also convicted of raping an Italian model at a trial in Los Angeles in 2022 and sentenced to 16 years. —Karla Cote, Variety, 21 Apr. 2026

Todd faces 21 new rape charges, 59 new counts of indecent assault and battery and one count of assault with intent to rape. —Neal Riley, CBS News, 21 Apr. 2026

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