fornication

fornication
for·ni·ca·tion /ˌfȯr-nə-'kā-shən/ n [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
◇ Where still considered a crime, fornication is classified as a misdemeanor.

Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law. . 1996.

fornication
n.
Sexual relations between two unmarried people, or by an unmarried person (who commits fornication) and a married person (who commits adultery); definitions vary by jurisdiction.
v.
fornicate

The Essential Law Dictionary. — Sphinx Publishing, An imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. . 2008.


fornication
Sexual intercourse between a man and woman who are not married to each other. Fornication is still on the books as a misdemeanor crime in some states, but following the Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas, can't be enforced.
Category: Criminal Law
Category: Divorce & Family Law
Category: Small Claims Court & Lawsuits

Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary. . 2009.


fornication
n. Consensual sex between two individuals not married to one another.

Webster's New World Law Dictionary. . 2000.


fornication
Sexual intercourse between a man and a woman who are not married to each other.

Dictionary from West's Encyclopedia of American Law. 2005.


fornication
Sexual intercourse between a man and a woman who are not married to each other.

Short Dictionary of (mostly American) Legal Terms and Abbreviations.

fornication
n.
   sexual intercourse between a man and woman who are not married to each other. This usage comes from Latin fornicari, meaning vaulted, which became the nickname for brothel, because prostitutes operated in a vaulted underground cavern in Rome. Fornication is still a misdemeanor in some states, as is adultery (sexual intercourse by a married person with someone not his/her spouse), but is virtually never prosecuted. If such anachronistic laws were enforced, the jails of America would have no room for robbers, murderers and drug dealers.

Law dictionary. . 2013.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • fornication — Fornication …   Thresor de la langue françoyse

  • fornication — [ fɔrnikasjɔ̃ ] n. f. • déb. XIIe; lat. ecclés. fornicatio; de fornix « voûte », parce que les prostituées habitaient à Rome des chambres voûtées ♦ Relig. (t. bibl.) Péché de la chair (relations charnelles entre deux personnes qui ne sont ni… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Fornication — Fornication, or simple fornication, is a term which refers to voluntary sexual intercourse between persons not married to each other. [ [http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=fornication WordNet Search 3.0 ] ] The origin of the word derives… …   Wikipedia

  • fornication — FORNICATION. s. f. Le peché de la chair entre deux personnes non mariées, ny liées par aucun voeu. Simple fornication. le peché de fornication. commettre fornication. Ce mot & celuy de Fornicateur qui suit ne se disent guere que dans le… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • 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. [1913 Webster] Note …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • fornication — [fôr΄ni kā′shən] n. [ME fornicacioun < OFr fornication < LL(Ec) fornicatio < fornicatus: see FORNICATE1] 1. a) voluntary sexual intercourse engaged in by a man, esp. an unmarried man, with an unmarried woman b) voluntary sexual… …   English World dictionary

  • fornication — (n.) c.1300, from O.Fr. fornicacion (12c.), from L.L. fornicationem (nom. fornicatio), noun of action from pp. stem of fornicari fornicate, from L. fornix (gen. fornicis) brothel (Juvenal, Horace), originally arch, vaulted chamber (Roman… …   Etymology dictionary

  • fornication — *adultery, incest …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • fornication — [n] sexual intercourse coition, coitus, copulation, intimacy, lovemaking, relations, screwing around, sex, sleeping around; concepts 375,384 …   New thesaurus

  • Fornication — Le terme fornication désigne un rapport sexuel entre deux individus non mariés entre eux, pratique condamnée par certaines religions (péché de la chair). Il a une forte connotation morale voire moralisatrice. Son usage est cependant péjoratif et… …   Wikipédia en Français

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