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Synonyms

age of consent

American  

noun

  1. the age at which a person becomes legally competent to consent to marriage or sexual intercourse.

age of consent British  

noun

  1. the age at which a person is considered legally competent to consent to sexual intercourse

  2. the age at which a person can enter into a legally binding contract

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of age of consent

First recorded in 1800–10

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

This was the year Japan passed landmark laws to redefine rape from "forcible sexual intercourse" to "non-consensual sexual intercourse" and raised the age of consent from 13 to 16.

From BBC • Feb. 27, 2025

New York judge William Thompson Howell wrote 500 pages that spanned provisions on dueling, accidental homicides by ax and age of consent that would govern the newly formed territory of fewer than 7,000 people.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 14, 2024

States like California and Colorado have recently lowered the age of consent for treatment to 12.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 9, 2024

The legal age of consent in the UK is 16.

From BBC • Sep. 27, 2023

The age of consent for girls was raised to 17.

From The Modern Woman's Rights Movement A Historical Survey by Schirmacher, Kaethe

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.