The abduction of a woman, especially for sexual purposes.
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 generally any sex act forced by any person upon another person; by extension, any non-consensual sex act forced on or perpetrated by any being.
From Middle English rapen, rappen, 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 reikėti ("to be in need"). Compare also rap.
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.
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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").
From Latin rapa, from rāpum.
From Middle English rape, from rape, from Old French raper, rasper, from Old Frankish *raspon ("to scratch"), related to Old High German raspōn ("to scrape"), Old English ġehrespan ("to strip, spoil").
Modern English dictionary
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