rape

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rape^¹

/ˈɹeɪ̯p/ US, UK
/ˈɹæɪ̯p/ Australia
[ˈɹʷæ̝ɪ̯p] Australia

Rhymes with -eɪp

Where it 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. Compare also rap (“seize, snatch”). Further, some senses may be from Etymology 3, an Old Norse word. Displaced native Old English seorþan whence English sard.

noun rapes

countable, uncountable 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. I fled; but he pursued (though more, it seems, / Inflamed with lust than rage), and, swifter far, / Me overtook, his mother, all dismayed, / And, in embraces forcible and foul / Engendering with me, of that rape begot / These yelling monsters […]
countable, offensive, slang, sometimes, uncountable Overpowerment; utter defeat.
countable, offensive, slang, sometimes, uncountable An insult to one's senses so severe that one feels that they cannot ever be the same afterwards. The ear rape of that concert was so bad I can't even listen to their songs at work anymore.
archaic, countable, uncountable The taking of something by force; seizure, plunder. the Rape of Nanjing
archaic, countable, uncountable The abduction of a woman, especially for sexual purposes. Sat. Traytor, if Rome haue law, or we haue power, / Thou and thy Faction shall repent this Rape. / Bass. Rape call you it my Lord, to cease my owne, / My true betrothed Loue, and now my wife?
countable, obsolete, uncountable That which is snatched away. Where now are all my hopes? O, never more. / Shall they revive! nor death her rapes restore.
countable, obsolete, uncountable Movement, as in snatching; haste; hurry.

verb rapes · raping · raped

transitive To force sexual intercourse or other sexual activity upon (someone) without their consent. The prosecution case was that the men forced the sisters to strip, threw their clothes over the bridge, then raped them and participated in forcing them to jump into the river to their deaths. As he walked off the bridge, Clemons was alleged to have said: "We threw them off. Let's go."
Similar: ravish, violate, vitiate
intransitive, transitive To seize by force. (Now often with sexual overtones.) Dr Ashok's eyes had a tendency to pop whenever he wanted to rape your attention.
Similar: loot, seize, snatch, take, apprehend, begripe, capture, fang, grasp, get, gripe, lay hold of
transitive To carry (someone, especially a woman) off against their will, especially for sex; to abduct. Paridell rapeth Hellenore: Malbecco her pursewes: Findes emongst Satyres, whence with him To turne she doth refuse.
transitive To plunder, to destroy or despoil. I raped your richest roadstead—I plundered Singapore!
Similar: depredate, pillage, ransack, ravage, sack, spoliate
offensive, slang, sometimes To subject (another person) to a painful or unfair experience. I attended, the mothers went around the circle, introducing themselves. They added a brief statement about their own experiences with vaccine for the reporter’s benefit. Dionne said that she felt “raped” when she was forced to give Tate some vaccinations.
offensive, slang, sometimes To overpower, destroy (someone); to trounce. My experienced opponent will rape me at chess.
Similar: beat, obliterate, own, thrash, bring down, convince, chew up, eat someone for breakfast, eat someone's lunch, flog, humble, kick ass
offensive, slang, sometimes To exploit an advantage, often involving money, where the other person has little choice but to submit. Have you seen the prices in that store lately? I got raped for $20 just buying a sandwich.

rape^²

/ˈɹeɪ̯p/ US, UK
/ˈɹæɪ̯p/ Australia
[ˈɹʷæ̝ɪ̯p] Australia

Rhymes with -eɪp

Where it 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.

noun rapes

historical One of the six former administrative divisions of Sussex, England. It seems to me very clear that the rapes of Sussex were divisions already existing there when the Normans landed.

rape^³

/ˈɹeɪ̯p/ US, UK
/ˈɹæɪ̯p/ Australia
[ˈɹʷæ̝ɪ̯p] Australia

Rhymes with -eɪp

Where it 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”).

verb rapes · raping · raped

intransitive, obsolete, reflexive To make haste; to hasten or hurry.

noun rapes

obsolete Haste; precipitancy; a precipitate course.

adverb more rape · most rape

obsolete Quickly; hastily.

rape^⁴

/ˈɹeɪ̯p/ US, UK
/ˈɹæɪ̯p/ Australia
[ˈɹʷæ̝ɪ̯p] Australia

Rhymes with -eɪp

Where it comes from

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

noun rape

Synonym of rapeseed, Brassica napus. After the Industrial Revolution, it was discovered that rape also yields oil suitable for lubrication.
Similar: rapeseed, Brassica napus

rape^⁵

/ˈɹeɪ̯p/ US, UK
/ˈɹæɪ̯p/ Australia
[ˈɹʷæ̝ɪ̯p] Australia

Rhymes with -eɪp

Where it 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”).

noun rapes

countable, uncountable The stalks and husks of grapes from which the must has been expressed in winemaking.
countable, uncountable A filter containing the stalks and husks of grapes, used for clarifying wine, vinegar, etc.
countable, obsolete, uncountable Fruit plucked in a bunch. a rape of grapes

Rape^⁶

proper noun Rapes

A surname.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: ravish, rapine, despoil, plunder, assault, sexual assault, ravishment, violation, violate, outrage, dishonour, dishonor, colza, brassica napus, sexual violation, defilement

verb

Translations

Every language

noun act of forcing sexual activity

Español	violación, estupro, ultraje
한국어	강간 ganggan, 성폭행 seongpokhaeng
日本語	強姦 gōkan, 手込め tegome, レイプ reipu
中文	強姦 /强奸 qiángjiān
हिन्दी	बलात्कार balātkār, धर्षण dharṣaṇ, दुष्कर्म duṣkarm
Kiswahili	ubakaji
Português	estupro, violação
Français	viol
Deutsch	Vergewaltigung, Schändung, Notzucht
Italiano	stupro
Ελληνικά	βιασμός viasmós
Română	viol
Русский	изнаси́лование iznasílovanije
Tiếng Việt	cưỡng hiếp, hiếp dâm, hãm hiếp
العربية	اِغْتِصَاب iḡtiṣāb
עברית	אֹנֶס, אונס 'ónes

verb cause damage, destruction to a countryside, nature etc

Français	pirater
Deutsch	verderben, schänden, plündern, vergewaltigen
Ελληνικά	ασελγώ aselgó, κακοποιώ kakopoió

verb force sexual intercourse

Español	violar, ultrajar, forzar, deshonrar, estuprar
한국어	강간하다 gangganhada, 성폭행하다 seongpokhaenghada
日本語	強姦する gōkan suru, 暴行する bōkō suru, 犯す okasu, 手込めにする tegome ni suru, 手篭にする tegome ni suru, レイプする reipu suru
中文	強奸 qiángjiān, 強暴 /强暴 qiángbào
हिन्दी	बलात्कार balātkār, दुष्कर्म duṣkarm
Kiswahili	-baka
Português	estuprar, violentar, violar
Français	violer
Deutsch	vergewaltigen, schänden
Italiano	stuprare, violentare, violare
Ελληνικά	βιάζω viázo
Română	viola
Русский	наси́ловать nasílovatʹ, изнаси́ловать iznasílovatʹ
Tiếng Việt	hiếp dâm, cưỡng dâm
العربية	اِغْتَصَبَ iḡtaṣaba, غَصَبَ ḡaṣaba
עברית	אנס

noun bunch of fruit

Română	ciorchine

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"rape." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/rape. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

rape. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/rape

Chicago

"rape." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/rape.

BibTeX

@misc{rape_2026,
  title = {rape},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/rape},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}

rape

AI In plain words

rape¹

Where it comes from

noun rapes

verb rapes · raping · raped

rape²

Where it comes from

noun rapes

rape³

Where it comes from

verb rapes · raping · raped

noun rapes

adverb more rape · most rape

rape⁴

Where it comes from

noun rape

rape⁵

Where it comes from

noun rapes

Rape⁶

proper noun Rapes

Thesaurus

Translations

noun act of forcing sexual activity

verb cause damage, destruction to a countryside, nature etc

verb force sexual intercourse

noun bunch of fruit

rape^¹

rape^²

rape^³

rape^⁴

rape^⁵

Rape^⁶