Find your perfect word!

Definition rape

Etymology 1

From Middle English rapen, rappen (“to abduct; ravish; seduce; rape; seize; snatch; carry off; transport”), probably from Latin rapere (verb), possibly through or influenced by Anglo-Norman rap, rape (noun) (compare also ravish). But compare Swedish rappa (“to snatch, seize, carry off”), Low German rapen (“to snatch, seize”), Dutch rapen (“to pick up, gather, collect”); the relationship with Germanic forms is not clear. Cognate with Lithuanian reik?ti (“to be in need”). Compare also rap (“seize, snatch”).

Noun

rape (countable and uncountable, plural rapes)

1. (now rare) The taking of something by force; seizure, plunder. [from early 14th c.]
2. (now archaic) The abduction of a woman, especially for sexual purposes. [from 15th c.]
3. The act of forcing sexual intercourse upon another person without their consent or against their will; originally coitus forced by a man on a woman, but now any sex act forced by any person upon another person. [from 15th c.]
4. (obsolete) That which is snatched away.
5. (obsolete) Movement, as in snatching; haste; hurry.
6. (slang) Overpowerment; utter defeat.

Verb

rape (third-person singular simple present rapes, present participle raping, simple past and past participle raped)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To seize by force. (Now often with overtones of later senses.) [from late 14th c.]
2. (transitive) To carry (someone, especially a woman) off against their will, especially for sex; to abduct. [from 15th c.]
3. (chiefly transitive) To force sexual intercourse or other sexual activity upon (someone) without their consent. [from 16th c.]
4. (transitive) To plunder, to destroy or despoil. [from 17th c.]
5. (US slang, chiefly Internet) To overpower, destroy (someone); to trounce. [from 20th c.]

Etymology 2

Generally considered to derive from Old English r?p (“rope”), in reference to the ropes used to delineate the courts that ruled each rape. Compare Dutch reep and the parish of Rope, Cheshire.

In the 18th century, Edward Lye proposed derivation from Old Norse hreppr (“tract of land”), but this was rejected by the New English Dictionary and is considered "phonologically impossible" by the English Place-Name Society. Others, considering it improbable that the Normans would have adopted a local word, suggest derivation from Old French raper (“take by force”).

See Wikipedia for more.

Noun

rape (plural rapes)

1. (now historical) One of the six former administrative divisions of Sussex, England. [from 11th c.]

Etymology 3

From Middle English rapen, from Old Norse hrapa (“to fall, rush headlong, hurry, hasten”), from Proto-Germanic *hrapan? (“to fall down”). Cognate with Norwegian rapa (“to slip, fall”), Danish rappe (“to make haste”), German rappeln (“to hasten, hurry”).

Verb

rape (third-person singular simple present rapes, present participle raping, simple past and past participle raped)

1. (obsolete, intransitive or reflexive) To make haste; to hasten or hurry. [14th-16th c.]

Noun

rape (plural rapes)

1. (obsolete) Haste; precipitancy; a precipitate course. [14th-17th c.]

Adverb

rape (comparative more rape, superlative most rape)

1. (obsolete) Quickly; hastily. [14th-19th c.]

Etymology 4

From Latin rapa, from rapum (“turnip”).

Noun

rape (plural rape)

1. Rapeseed, Brassica napus. [late 14th c.]

Etymology 5

From Middle English rape, from rape (“grape stalk, rasper”), from Old French raper, rasper (“to rasp, scratch”), from Old Frankish *rasp?n (“to scratch”), related to Old High German rasp?n (“to scrape”), Old English ?ehrespan (“to strip, spoil”).

Noun

rape (countable and uncountable, plural rapes)

1. The stalks and husks of grapes from which the must has been expressed in winemaking.
2. A filter containing the stalks and husks of grapes, used for clarifying wine, vinegar, etc.
3. (obsolete) Fruit plucked in a bunch.

Results 278 Words with the letters RAPE

You can also try words with the phrase RAPE, words starting with the letters RAPE, or words ending in the letters RAPE.

Favorites Searches

Words… ending with q, starting with q, starting with qa, starting with qo, with two letters, starting with x, starting with j, ending with j,

Some random searches: Words with the letters EWM, Words with the letters CDXY, Words with the letters KMSGFY, Words with the letters AX,