rape

1 of 5

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 5

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 5

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 5

noun (3)

: the pomace of grapes left after expression of the juice

raper

5 of 5

noun (4)

rap·​er

ˈrā-pər

plural -s

: one that rapes : rapist

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

Channel 4 has canceled Married at First Sight UK (MAFS UK) following two external reviews into welfare on the show that was hit by rape allegations earlier this year. — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 5 Nov. 2026

The Met also confirmed investigations are continuing regarding two other allegations of rape made against Brand, according to PA. — Lauren Said-Moorhouse, CNN Money, 5 Nov. 2026

Thursday’s guilty rape verdict relates to a woman who met Brand at a Hammersmith Apollo gig of his in 2009. — Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 5 Nov. 2026

Did the framers of the American Constitution really want @truecrimesleuthboy unpicking old Facebook albums of women alleging rape, or network news cameras hounding jurors on their decision? — Luke Jones, Vanity Fair, 5 Nov. 2026

The result confirms weeks of polling showing Collins behind Jackson, a former leader of the Maine Senate who was chosen in a state party convention after Platner was accused of rape by a former romantic partner. — David Sivak, The Washington Examiner, 4 Nov. 2026

Ramaswamy aired a late attack ad against Acton featuring her estranged mother, who backed her husband when Acton accused him of rape as a child. — David Weigel, semafor.com, 4 Nov. 2026

Santa Monica Police Department Later Tuesday, Santa Monica Police Department and OCSD investigators confirmed to CBS LA that Studley was also the suspect arrested in September 2023 for assault to commit rape. — Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 4 Nov. 2026

That same jury had convicted him of the April 10, 2016, rape and murder of Guevara Machado at the Chesapeake Motel in Hialeah. — Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 29 Oct. 2026

Verb

When researchers tell stories about people who are victims of crimes—ranging from having an iPad stolen to being raped—such victims are seen as virtuous, more moral and more trustworthy than comparable people who have not been victimized. — Paul Bloom, New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2026

Channel 4 has canceled Married at First Sight UK after two contestants claimed they had been raped during the filming of the show. — Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 5 Nov. 2026

Jurors also found the actor guilty of kissing and groping another woman at a London radio station in 2004 or 2005 and of anally raping a fan at his home after meeting her backstage at one of his comedy shows in 2009. — Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2026

Rhoades, who had been convicted in 1993 of molesting his 4-year-old step-granddaughter, abducted, raped and murdered the boy. — Michael McGough, Sacbee.com, 5 Nov. 2026

One of the two women alleged that the husband she was matched with raped her and threatened her with an acid attack, according to the BBC. — Doha Madani, NBC news, 5 Nov. 2026

The spot sparked national bipartisan backlash on grounds that Acton's mother had lost custody of her children decades ago after her husband, their stepfather, was indicted for raping Acton as a child. — Arkansas Online, 4 Nov. 2026

The defining moment of this campaign came with an ad made by the Ramaswamy campaign that tried to use Acton's estranged mother, who fled the state with a husband who was indicted for raping Acton as a child, to call Acton a liar. — Leah Sarnoff, ABC News, 4 Nov. 2026

Court documents show Acton’s stepfather was arrested for raping her as a child, and that Arthur lost custody before the couple fled the state to avoid trial, the Ohio Capital Journal reported. — Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 4 Nov. 2026

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 entry 1). See also the note at rape entry 1.

Noun (2) and Noun (4)

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