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

Celebrations of diversity were erupting across the state — rapes in Kingston, incestuous underage pregnancies in Marlboro, a motel torched in Sutton, AR-15-toting fentanyl dealers in Revere…. —Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 28 Nov. 2025

Authorities said her word was backed up by surveillance video, cellphone records that show her and Coronado-Miranda’s phones were aligned for much of the early morning on the day of the incident and a rape test taken after her rescue. —Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 26 Nov. 2025

After the explosive Los Angeles Times article detailing claims against him, Ratner denied all wrongdoing, filing and later dropping a defamation lawsuit against Melanie Kohler, who accused him of rape. —Jack Smart, PEOPLE, 26 Nov. 2025

Investigators said the chats also included graphic discussions promoting rape, torture and murder, including the killing of non-White children. —Alexandra Koch, FOXNews.com, 26 Nov. 2025

On Dancing with the Stars, Forde firmly rejected the notion that the Strictly upheaval, which has seen two professional dancers exit the show over misconduct allegations and two former stars arrested on suspicion of rape, has had an impact on BBC Studios’ ability to sell the show around the world. —Max Goldbart, Deadline, 26 Nov. 2025

While Combs had been in legal trouble before, things took a turn for the official in 2023, when his former partner, the musician Cassie Ventura, accused him of rape and physical abuse in a damning lawsuit. —Mekishana Pierre, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Nov. 2025

Black Box Diaries is a more modern story about an incredibly brave young woman who was raped and then goes to investigate her own rape, because no one else in her country is going to do it for her or is going to support her. —Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 25 Nov. 2025

Rumors of a rape then circulated, Rowland was arrested, and White Tulsans formed a lynch mob. —Omar Jimenez, CNN Money, 24 Nov. 2025

Verb

However, Ohtani argued that Gouker had a history of false confessions and was lying to avoid the death penalty in Oklahoma, where he was convicted of murdering a 19-year-old man and raping his girlfriend. —Emily Blackwood, PEOPLE, 22 Nov. 2025

Japanese troops killed more than 200,000 unarmed civilians during its occupation, and raped and tortured tens of thousands of women and girls, in what is known as the Nanjing Massacre, one of the most notorious wartime atrocities of the 20th century. —Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 21 Nov. 2025

Randolph beat, strangled, stabbed and raped McCollum before fleeing the store in her car. —Greg Wehner, FOXNews.com, 21 Nov. 2025

Randolph then raped McCollum and left her for dead, prosecutors said. —Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 21 Nov. 2025

Randolph then beat, strangled, stabbed and raped McCollum before leaving the store and taking the woman's car, the records show. —David Fischer The Associated Press, Arkansas Online, 21 Nov. 2025

Jennings had been convicted of raping and killing his neighbor. —CBS News, 19 Nov. 2025

During trial testimony, Jennings was accused of abducting the girl, taking her to a canal and raping her. —Jenna Sundel, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Nov. 2025

And, over the course of three years, Stein said, she was raped by Epstein, Maxwell and unnamed people to whom she was introduced. —Hallie Jackson, NBC news, 13 Nov. 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