fornication
/ˌfɔɹnɪˈkeɪʃən/ noun
Forms fornications
- noun (religion, law) Sexual intercourse by people who are not married to each other, or which is considered illicit in another way.
- noun (colloquial) Sexual intercourse in general; sex.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English fornicacioun, from Old French fornicacion, from Latin fornicātiō, from fornix (“brothel”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun 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.
- noun (a) Adultery.
Etymology [F. fornication, L. fornicatio.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “fornication”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details