fornication
8 dictionary results for: Fornication
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
for·ni·ca·tion 
[fawr-ni-key-shuhn] Pronunciation Key
—Related forms
[fawr-ni-key-shuhn] Pronunciation Key –noun
| 1. | voluntary sexual intercourse between two unmarried persons or two persons not married to each other. |
| 2. | Bible. idolatry. |
—Related forms
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| for·ni·ca·tion
(fôr'nĭ-kā'shən) Pronunciation Key
n. Sexual intercourse between partners who are not married to each other. Word History: The word fornication had a lowly beginning suitable to what has long been the low moral status of the act to which it refers. The Latin word fornix, from which fornicātiō, the ancestor of fornication, is derived, meant "a vault, an arch." The term also referred to a vaulted cellar or similar place where prostitutes plied their trade. This sense of fornix in Late Latin yielded the verb fornicārī, "to commit fornication," from which is derived fornicātiō, "whoredom, fornication." Our word is first recorded in Middle English about 1303. |
(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
fornication
fornication
c.1300, from O.Fr. fornication, from L.L. fornicationem (nom. fornicatio), from fornicari "fornicate," from L. fornix (gen. fornicis) "brothel," originally "arch, vaulted chamber" (Roman prostitutes commonly solicited from under the arches of certain buildings), from fornus "oven of arched or domed shape." Strictly, "voluntary sex between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman;" extended in the Bible to adultery.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| fornication | |
noun | |
| 1. | voluntary sexual intercourse between persons not married to each other |
| 2. | extramarital sex that willfully and maliciously interferes with marriage relations; "adultery is often cited as grounds for divorce" [syn: adultery] |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
for'ni·cate' v.
fornication for·ni·ca·tion (fôr'nĭ-kā'shən)
n.
Sexual intercourse between partners who are not married to each other.
for'ni·cate' v.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: for·ni·ca·tion
Pronunciation: "for-n&-'kA-sh&n
Function: noun
Etymology: Late Latin fornicatio, from fornicare to have intercourse with prostitutes, from Latin fornic- fornix arch, vault, brothel
: consensual sexual intercourse between a man and esp. single woman who are not married to each other; also : the crime of engaging in fornication —compare ADULTERY
NOTE: Where still considered a crime, fornication is classified as a misdemeanor.
Main Entry: for·ni·ca·tion
Pronunciation: "for-n&-'kA-sh&n
Function: noun
Etymology: Late Latin fornicatio, from fornicare to have intercourse with prostitutes, from Latin fornic- fornix arch, vault, brothel
: consensual sexual intercourse between a man and esp. single woman who are not married to each other; also : the crime of engaging in fornication —compare ADULTERY
NOTE: Where still considered a crime, fornication is classified as a misdemeanor.
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Fornication
For`ni*ca"tion\, n. [F. fornication, L. fornicatio.]1. Unlawful sexual intercourse on the part of an unmarried person; the act of such illicit sexual intercourse between a man and a woman as does not by law amount to adultery. Note: In England, the offense, though cognizable in the ecclesiastical courts, was not at common law subject to secular prosecution. In the United States it is indictable in some States at common law, in others only by statute. --Whartyon. 2. (Script.) (a) Adultery. (b) Incest. (c) Idolatry.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Fornication
in every form of it was sternly condemned by the Mosaic law (Lev. 21:9; 19:29; Deut. 22:20, 21, 23-29; 23:18; Ex. 22:16). (See ADULTERY.) But this word is more frequently used in a symbolical than in its ordinary sense. It frequently means a forsaking of God or a following after idols (Isa. 1:2; Jer. 2:20; Ezek. 16; Hos. 1:2; 2:1-5; Jer. 3:8,9).
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
Share This:
Copyright © 2008, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.