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

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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

The subpoena stems from the former Def Jam executive Drew Dixon previously accusing Simmons in a New York Times piece of raping her in his apartment back in 1995. —Marc Griffin, VIBE.com, 26 Mar. 2025

When a case hits too close to home – one of the girls on her self-defence team is raped – Mars crosses the line into vigilantism. —John Hopewell, Variety, 25 Mar. 2025

Depardieu is also facing an official complaint from actress Charlotte Arnould, who accused him of raping her in 2018. —Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Mar. 2025

The son of a Japanese woman likely raped by an American GI, he is abandoned after World War II at an orphanage full of children with similar parentage. —Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 24 Mar. 2025

The unidentified woman who claimed Jay-Z raped her at a 2000 party said a recording released by his attorneys twisted her words, according to a report published last week. —arkansasonline.com, 21 Mar. 2025

An Idaho man accused of raping a woman in Oakley more than two decades ago will be held for trial following a judge’s decision at a preliminary hearing earlier this week, authorities said. —Rick Hurd, The Mercury News, 21 Mar. 2025

But my mom was raped more than 200 times during ten years by more than 70 different men. —Christine Pelisek, People.com, 17 Mar. 2025

The case comes less than two months after a 44-year-old woman from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, filed a criminal report with the Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office alleging she was raped twice in her cabin, each time by a crew member, on an eight-day cruise that started and ended at PortMiami. —Vinod Sreeharsha, Miami Herald, 15 Mar. 2025

Noun

According to the publication, Selena then took Saldívar to the hospital for examination, where doctors found no evidence of rape. —Kelsie Gibson, People.com, 28 Mar. 2025

Last year, Donald Trump sued ABC News and George Stephanopoulos after the anchor inaccurately stated on-air that Trump had been found liable for rape. —Todd Spangler, Variety, 28 Mar. 2025

Among the film’s interviewees are two former nuns at the school and the abbot who supervised several of the priests accused of rape and murder. —Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 26 Mar. 2025

The calls include 219 for welfare checks, 114 for suspicious subjects or vehicles, 57 for suicidal subjects or attempts, 54 for trespassing, 53 for fights, 46 for narcotics, 12 for fraud and nine for rape. —Nick Rosenberger, Idaho Statesman, 26 Mar. 2025

Prior to his confirmation, Hegseth was accused of rape and seriously abusing alcohol. —David Matthews, New York Daily News, 25 Mar. 2025

Every victim is forgotten because to remember - the rapes and child abductions in Ukraine - is to take on responsibility and therefore to begin worrying. —Melik Kaylan, Forbes, 22 Mar. 2025

The fear of rape remains for women who leave the camps for firewood or other needs. —Sam Mednick, The Denver Post, 22 Mar. 2025

Contra Costa County prosecutors have charged Eric Ferguson, 49, with forcible rape in the April 2, 2002, attack near Laurel Road in Oakley, according to court documents. —Rick Hurd, The Mercury News, 21 Mar. 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