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

An Imperial Officer abusing his untouchable status to rape an undocumented migrant, while his troops are rounding up other undocumented citizens. —James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 23 Apr. 2025

Sharpe, 56, is accused in a civil lawsuit filed Sunday in Clark County, Nev., of raping the woman in October 2024 and in January. —Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 22 Apr. 2025

The plaintiff sued Sharpe, with whom she had been engaged in a nearly two-year relationship, in Nevada, accusing him of raping her on two different occasions. —Liam Quinn, People.com, 22 Apr. 2025

Sharpe, 56, is accused of raping the woman in October 2024 and again in January, court documents said. —CBS News, 22 Apr. 2025

Once her husband and the men accused of raping her went to trial, Gisèle Pelicot took the extraordinary step of waiving her right to anonymity, so that the names and faces of the accused would also be public. —Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 21 Apr. 2025

In January, during a prison break, at least 150 female prisoners were raped before the majority were subsequently burned alive. —Dr. Ewelina U. Ochab, Forbes.com, 19 Apr. 2025

Wulff told jurors Weinstein had masturbated in front of her at work and later raped her at his apartment. —Victoria Bekiempis, Vulture, 15 Apr. 2025

Then, in 2013, during her senior year, she was raped at a frat party. —Monisha Ravisetti, Space.com, 14 Apr. 2025

Noun

An Alabama man convicted of a 2010 rape and murder on Thursday with a three-drug injection. —Jasmine Laws, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Apr. 2025

Dana Martin, then an inmate at a prison in Las Cruces, N.M., was already serving two life sentences for the 2000 rape and murder of 15-year-old DeAndra Florucci. —Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 24 Apr. 2025

Massacre, enslavement, rape, kidnapping of women and children, combined with starvation and disease, more than decimated native nations. —Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 23 Apr. 2025

Those assertions by Weinstein include those with multiple accusers who had never met each other giving very similar graphic accounts, going back to the 1970s, of rapes and assaults in hotel rooms, in homes and during industry events. —Dominic Patten, Deadline, 23 Apr. 2025

Weinstein has been transported to New York City's Bellevue Hospital several times since he was sentenced to 23 years in prison following his conviction on rape charges in February 2020. —Kimi Robinson, USA Today, 20 Apr. 2025

Ashley Judd responds to Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction reversal Actress Ashley Judd spoke at a press conference after Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction was overturned by the New York Court of Appeals. —Lauryn Overhultz, FOXNews.com, 16 Apr. 2025

Soulja Boy has been ordered to pay a hefty sum to a Jane Doe victim who accused the rapper of rape and assault. —Demicia Inman, VIBE.com, 10 Apr. 2025

The data had been filed in a high-profile federal lawsuit involving a 15-year-old girl who said Myers Park High School administrators failed to investigate her on-campus rape. —Julia Coin, Charlotte Observer, 9 Apr. 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