rape
UK[reɪp]US[reɪp]
v
To force someone to have sex when they do not want to by threatening them or using violence.
n
The crime of forcing someone to have sex when they do not want to by threatening them or using violence.
n
The destruction or spoiling of something, especially land.
Etymology
The word 'rape' entered English in the late 14th century from the Old French 'raper', meaning 'to seize, abduct, force'. This, in turn, came from the Latin 'rapere', meaning 'to seize, carry off by force, abduct'. The Latin verb is from the Proto-Indo-European root rep- or rap- meaning 'to snatch'. The primary modern meaning, focusing on sexual violation, developed from this core idea of violent seizure and abduction. A separate, now archaic, noun form meaning 'the act of carrying off' survives in the plant name 'rape' (as in rapeseed), which comes from the Latin 'rapum' for 'turnip', a different root related to the act of harvesting or plucking.
Analysis
The word is a simplex form derived from Latin. It is not productively composed of separable morphemes in modern English.
Examples
He was convicted of attempted rape.
The documentary examines how survivors cope after being raped.
The industrial development led to the rape of the countryside.