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)

• 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

Verb

The next execution is Kayle Barrington Bates in Florida on Aug. 19 for the 1982 stabbing death of a 24-year-old woman named Janet White, who was kidnapped from her office and taken to the woods before Bates beat her, tried to rape her and ultimately killed her. —Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 5 Aug. 2025

Placer County sheriff’s deputies arrested a 27-year-old man suspected of attempting to rape a woman in a park outside Roseville Sunday afternoon — while other deputies on their way to the scene wound up in a car crash. —Ethan Wolin august 4, Sacbee.com, 4 Aug. 2025

If Hamas hadn’t invaded, butchered and raped Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, there would be zero casualties in Gaza. —Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 31 July 2025

One Day in Southport instead features other populist preachers like Carl Benjamin, a YouTuber who espouses the great replacement theory and once openly debated raping Labour lawmaker Jess Phillips. —Jake Kanter, Deadline, 24 July 2025

For Smith and her group, the issue of legal gender recognition touches on who gets to make decisions about women’s lives and bodies, including their access to spaces from hospital wards to rape crisis centers and prisons. —Astha Rajvanshi, NBC news, 20 July 2025

And, as her recording career suffered, Francis experienced personal tragedy in 1974 when she was raped at knifepoint in her hotel room after performing at the Westbury Music Fair. —Matthew Strauss, Pitchfork, 18 July 2025

Martinez-Velasquez is claiming asylum after allegedly being abducted and raped by cartel members in Mexico. —Michael Dorgan, FOXNews.com, 18 July 2025

The attacker forced her into a bedroom, raped her, then swiped her phone, a knife and bed sheets before leaving, NBC 4 New York reported. —John Annese, New York Daily News, 27 July 2025

Noun

The thorny debate around what to do with TV shows hosted by those who have faced accusations reared its head Tuesday, when Deadline broke the news that the BBC will not remove content from iPlayer featuring Jay Blades after it was revealed that The Repair Shop presenter is facing rape charges. —Max Goldbart, Deadline, 6 Aug. 2025

Atiba Stanislaus, a farmer in his 20s, received 60 years for manslaughter and an additional 18 years for the rape of Brandel, along with other sentences for other crimes including kidnapping. —Lesley Cosme Torres, People.com, 4 Aug. 2025

Trabuco also likened Rodriguez-Kennedy to victims of lynchings and to the Central Park 5, the group of Black and Latino teenagers in New York City who were wrongly charged, convicted and imprisoned on rape charges and ultimately exonerated. —Lucas Robinson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Aug. 2025

Gary Moody back in 1978 was convicted of rape, assault to murder and other charges in connection with raping and repeatedly beating the woman. —Rick Sobey, Boston Herald, 31 July 2025

An additional rape charge against Weinstein was given a mistrial in June of 2025, following jury room tensions. —Marni Rose McFall, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 July 2025

Estimates of the number of rapes committed vary widely — up to as many as 120,000 — according to data compiled by the researchers, with many reluctant to report the attacks. —Dr. Ewelina U. Ochab, Forbes.com, 31 July 2025

In April 2024, Lateral officer Myron Howard, who was with the department for one year, was charged with rape, criminal confinement, official misconduct, making an unlawful proposition, public indecency and public nudity. —Ryan Murphy, IndyStar, 30 July 2025

Thomas Partey, the footballer accused of rape, will feature on the Premier League’s official trading cards when they are released next month — after Arsenal rubber-stamped his inclusion. —Dan Sheldon, New York Times, 29 July 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