rape

1 of 4

noun (1)

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
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

Examples of rape in a Sentence

Verb He is accused of raping the girl. She was raped by a fellow student.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
The federal judge who oversaw a New York defamation trial that resulted in an $83.3 million award to a longtime magazine columnist who says Donald Trump raped her in the 1990s refused Thursday to relieve the ex-president from the verdict’s financial pinch. Larry Neumeister, Fortune, 8 Mar. 2024 An anonymous caller reported overhearing a teen girl telling an adult that she had been raped, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. Stephen Sorace, Fox News, 7 Mar. 2024 The Los Angeles Police Department is currently investigating a specific incident in which Rossello alleges Diaz raped him at The Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles in the 1980s. Natalie Morales, CBS News, 2 Mar. 2024 In the first indictment, a grand jury charged the ex-cop with depriving the civil rights of two women by raping them on six occasions between 1998 and 2002. Bill Lukitsch, Kansas City Star, 1 Mar. 2024 Before becoming the no-nonsense Novak, though, Neal — who got her start as a model for Ponds and Shiseido — had a guest appearance on SVU in 2001 as a woman who raped a male stripper. Lynsey Eidell, Peoplemag, 29 Feb. 2024 On July 13th, a man in Columbus—the boyfriend of the girl’s mother—was charged with raping a ten-year-old, which allowed reporters to discover her identity and debunked the claim that the story was false. Peter Slevin, The New Yorker, 25 Feb. 2024 Two sisters who fought to keep Barker behind bars recounted the years of trauma their mother endured after she was raped. The Enquirer, 23 Feb. 2024 And Jennifer Newsom testified in Harvey Weinstein’s criminal rape trial in Los Angeles, alleging that Weinstein raped her. Ethan Millman, Rolling Stone, 28 Feb. 2024
Noun
Remember Me as Human dives deep on Walsh’s family life, and covers difficult topics, including the rape of her late Aunt Kathy, who had special needs, as well as the suicide of Wanda’s father and Dale's Alzheimer's diagnosis. Rachel Desantis, Peoplemag, 12 Mar. 2024 Hamas’ mass murder, systematic rape of Israelis and taking of over 130 hostages still held by terror groups in Gaza were nonissues for the packed film audience that cheered the delegitimization of the Jewish state in the capital city, Berlin, that planned the Holocaust. Benjamin Weinthal, Fox News, 9 Mar. 2024 According to the Innocence Project, Tapp was charged and convicted in the 1996 rape and murder of 18-year-old Angie Dodge, despite being excluded by DNA evidence. CBS News, 7 Mar. 2024 In the United States, he was found liable in civil court for the rape of his former collaborator Haleigh Breest. Valeria Verbaro, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Mar. 2024 The report concludes rapes likely took place in at least three locations on Oct. 7. Suzanne Nuyen, NPR, 5 Mar. 2024 Congress passed the act more than 30 years ago in response to the rape and murder of a 19-year-old college student in her Lehigh University dorm. Susan Svrluga, Washington Post, 5 Mar. 2024 Hamas has previously denied that its militants committed rape during the October 7 attack. Richard Roth, CNN, 4 Mar. 2024 The Miami Beach rape victim then picked Ewers out of a lineup. Charles Rabin, Miami Herald, 1 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rape.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of rape was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near rape

Cite this Entry

“Rape.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rape. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

rape

1 of 3 noun
: 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 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
: 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

More from Merriam-Webster on rape

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