Fornication

Fornication
Sexual intercourse that is "illicit", outside of marriage. The term "fornication" has close medical relatives by the name of "fornix", the word for "arch" in Latin. In anatomy there is the "fornix conjunctivae" (the fornix of the conjunctiva of the eye) and the "fornix uteri or vaginae" (the fornix of the uterus or vagina). It seems that the Roman prostitutes used to hang out under the arches of certain public buildings. The act of carrying on an illicit relationship consequently came to be called "going under the arches": fornication.
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Sexual intercourse, especially between unmarried partners. [L. fornicatio, an arched or vaulted basement (brothel)]

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for·ni·ca·tion .fȯr-nə-'kā-shən n consensual sexual intercourse between two persons not married to each other

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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  • 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 — 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 …   Law dictionary

  • 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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