fornicate

¹ American  

[fawr-ni-keyt] / ˈfɔr nɪˌkeɪt /

verb (used without object)

fornicated, fornicating

1. to have sexual intercourse with someone to whom one is not married.

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fornicate ² American  

[fawr-ni-kit, -keyt] / ˈfɔr nɪ kɪt, -ˌkeɪt /

Also fornicated

adjective

Biology.

1. arched or vaulted in form.

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fornicate ¹ British  

/ ˈfɔːnɪˌkeɪt /

verb

1. (intr) to indulge in or commit fornication

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fornicate ² British  

/ -ˌkeɪt, ˈfɔːnɪkɪt /

adjective

1. biology arched or hoodlike in form

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Other Word Forms

• fornicator noun

Etymology

Origin of fornicate¹

First recorded in 1545–55; from Late Latin fornicātus “consorted,” past participle of fornicārī “to consort with prostitutes,” from Latin fornix “basement, brothel,” also “arch, vault”; fornicate ²

Origin of fornicate²

First recorded in 1820–30; from Latin fornicātus, from fornix “arch, vault,” also “basement, brothel”; fornicate ¹

Example Sentences

"They’re doing drugs, they’re fornicating, there are syringes. I have two kids. I don’t want to have to navigate stepping over syringes."

From Fox News

At times, guests’ attention wandered to clips of fornicating wild animals that McCartney had chosen rather provocatively to project on the gilded, golden 19th-century opera house walls.

From Washington Times

The crew members, selected partially on the basis of their sex appeal, spent more time fending off seasickness than fornicating.

From The New Yorker

Finally, he traced the brainstem and basal ganglia back to primordial reptiles, theorizing that they controlled our reflexes, as well as our four major instincts: to fight, flee, feed, and fornicate.

From Salon

His friends start book groups and collapse drunkenly into bed, not to fornicate or fall asleep, but to read Cormac McCarthy.

From New York Times