rape
pronunciation
How to pronounce rape in British English:
UK [reɪp]
How to pronounce rape in American English:
US [reɪp]
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- Noun:
- Eurasian plant cultivated for its seed and as a forage crop
- the act of despoiling a country in warfare
- the crime of forcing a woman to submit to sexual intercourse against her will
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- Verb:
- force (someone) to have sex against their will
- destroy and strip of its possession
Word Origin
- rape
- rape: English has three distinct words rape, only two of them now in general usage. The commonest, ‘violate sexually’ [14], comes via Anglo-Norman raper from Latin rapere ‘seize by force’, a generous contributor to English vocabulary which has also given us rapid, rapt, rapture, etc. Rape the plant-name [14] was borrowed from Latin rāpa or rāpum.Like its Latin ancestor, it originally denoted ‘turnip’, but since the 16th century it has come to be used exclusively for another plant of the brassica family, grown for its oil-rich seeds. (The -rabi of kohlrabi also comes ultimately from Latin rāpa; and Italian dialect raviolo, a diminutive of rava ‘turnip’, has given English ravioli [19].) The oldest rape [11] is now only of historical interest.It denoted any of the six administrative areas into which Sussex was once divided. It is the same word ultimately as rope, and etymologically denotes the partitioning off of land with rope.=> rapid, rapt, rapture; kohlrabi, ravioli; rope
- rape (v.)
- late 14c., "seize prey; abduct, take by force," from rape (n.) and from Anglo-French raper (Old French rapir) "to seize, abduct," a legal term, probably from past participle of Latin rapere "seize, carry off by force, abduct" (see rapid). Latin rapere was used for "sexually violate," but only very rarely; the usual Latin word being stuprare "to defile, ravish, violate," related to stuprum (n.), literally "disgrace." Meaning "to abduct (a woman), ravish;" also "seduce (a man)" is from early 15c. in English. Related: Raped; raping. Uncertain connection to Low German and Dutch rapen in the same sense.
- rape (n.1)
- early 14c., "booty, prey;" mid-14c., "forceful seizure; plundering, robbery, extortion," from Anglo-French rap, rape, and directly from Latin rapere "seize" (see rape (v.)). Meaning "act of abducting a woman or sexually violating her or both" is from early 15c., but perhaps late 13c. in Anglo-Latin.
- rape (n.2)
- kind of cruciferous plant (Brassica napus), late 14c., from Old French rape, from Latin rapa, rapum "turnip," from PIE *rap- (cognates: Greek hrapys "rape," Old Church Slavonic repa, Lithuanian rope, Middle Dutch roeve, Old High German ruoba, German Rübe "rape, turnip"). Usually grown to feed sheep, an oil made from it is used in cooking (see canola).
Example
- 1. Rape in war is as old as war itself .
- 2. The costs of rape are lower , the potential rewards higher .
- 3. Eg. yellow flowers of rape always remind me of my childhood in the countryside .
- 4. A greater willingness to report rape may account for the apparent increase .
- 5. Calls to a rape hotline jumped nearly 30 % following his arrest .