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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

rape.

The act of forcing sex upon another person without their consent or against their will; originally coitus forced by a man on a woman, but now generally any sex act forced by any person upon another person, regardless of gender; by extension, any non-consensual sex act forced on or perpetrated by any being.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈɹeɪ̯p/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈɹæɪ̯p/Australia[ˈɹʷæ̝ɪ̯p]Australia
  1. The act of forcing sex upon another person without their consent or against their will; originally coitus forced by a man on a woman, but now generally any sex act forced by any person upon another person, regardless of gender; by extension, any non-consensual sex act forced on or perpetrated by any being.

    countable · uncountable
  2. An experience that is pleasant for one party and unpleasant for the other, particularly when the unwilling partner's suffering is worse than necessary. Overpowerment; utter defeat.

    countable · offensive · slang · sometimes · uncountable
  3. An experience that is pleasant for one party and unpleasant for the other, particularly when the unwilling partner's suffering is worse than necessary. An insult to one's senses so severe that one feels that they cannot ever be the same afterwards.

    countable · offensive · slang · sometimes · uncountable
    The ear rape of that concert was so bad I can't even listen to their songs at work anymore.
  4. The taking of something by force; seizure, plunder.

    archaic · countable · uncountable
    the Rape of Nanjing
  5. The abduction of a woman, especially for sexual purposes.

    archaic · countable · uncountable
  6. That which is snatched away.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
  7. Movement, as in snatching; haste; hurry.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English rapen, rappen (“to abduct; ravish; seduce; rape; seize; snatch; carry off; transport”), probably from Latin rapiō (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 reikėti (“to be in need”). Compare also rap (“seize, snatch”). Further, some senses may be from Etymology 3, an Old Norse word.

verb/ˈɹeɪ̯p/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈɹæɪ̯p/Australia[ˈɹʷæ̝ɪ̯p]Australia
  1. To force sexual intercourse or other sexual activity upon (someone) without their consent.

    transitive
  2. To seize by force. (Now often with sexual overtones.)

    intransitive · transitive
  3. To carry (someone, especially a woman) off against their will, especially for sex; to abduct.

    transitive
  4. To plunder, to destroy or despoil.

    transitive
  5. To subject (another person) to a painful or unfair experience.

    offensive · slang · sometimes
  6. To subject (another person) to a painful or unfair experience. To overpower, destroy (someone); to trounce.

    offensive · slang · sometimes
    My experienced opponent will rape me at chess.
  7. To subject (another person) to a painful or unfair experience. To exploit an advantage, often involving money, where the other person has little choice but to submit.

    offensive · slang · sometimes
    Have you seen the prices in that store lately? I got raped for $20 just buying a sandwich.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English rapen, rappen (“to abduct; ravish; seduce; rape; seize; snatch; carry off; transport”), probably from Latin rapiō (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 reikėti (“to be in need”). Compare also rap (“seize, snatch”). Further, some senses may be from Etymology 3, an Old Norse word.

noun/ˈɹeɪ̯p/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈɹæɪ̯p/Australia[ˈɹʷæ̝ɪ̯p]Australia
  1. One of the six former administrative divisions of Sussex, England.

    historical
Where this word comes from

Generally considered to derive from Old English rāp (“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.

verb/ˈɹeɪ̯p/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈɹæɪ̯p/Australia[ˈɹʷæ̝ɪ̯p]Australia
  1. To make haste; to hasten or hurry.

    intransitive · obsolete · reflexive
Where this word comes from

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

noun/ˈɹeɪ̯p/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈɹæɪ̯p/Australia[ˈɹʷæ̝ɪ̯p]Australia
  1. Haste; precipitancy; a precipitate course.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

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

adv/ˈɹeɪ̯p/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈɹæɪ̯p/Australia[ˈɹʷæ̝ɪ̯p]Australia
  1. Quickly; hastily.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

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

noun/ˈɹeɪ̯p/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈɹæɪ̯p/Australia[ˈɹʷæ̝ɪ̯p]Australia
  1. Synonym of rapeseed, Brassica napus.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English rape, from Latin rāpa, from rāpum (“turnip”).

noun/ˈɹeɪ̯p/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈɹæɪ̯p/Australia[ˈɹʷæ̝ɪ̯p]Australia
  1. The stalks and husks of grapes from which the must has been expressed in winemaking.

    countable · uncountable
  2. A filter containing the stalks and husks of grapes, used for clarifying wine, vinegar, etc.

    countable · uncountable
  3. Fruit plucked in a bunch.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
    a rape of grapes
Where this word comes from

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

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.