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Glite Dictionary
act of fornication

act of fornication

8.3
Sex between two people who are not married to each other
  • noun
  • /ækt əv fɔrnɪˈkeɪʃən/
  • NSFW
translation icon : acto de fornicación
  • Many religions condemn the act of fornication before marriage.

Examples

  • The act of fornication is often considered taboo in many cultures.

  • The community elders harshly judged any act of fornication within their village.

  • He was dismissed from his position after his act of fornication became public knowledge.

  • In the past, engaging in an act of fornication was considered a serious social offense.

  • The act of fornication is considered taboo in many cultures.

  • They were caught in the act of fornication, which caused a scandal in their community.

  • Many religious teachings condemn the act of fornication before marriage.

Synonyms

fornication
vsact of fornication
  • NSFW
21 9.6

Sex between people who are not married

is a neutral definition focusing only on the act without moral or legal judgment

Antonyms

chastity
35 8.1

A state in which a person does not have sex, often for religious or moral reasons

Surface Forms

act of fornication singular
acts of fornication plural

Morphology

act + of + fornication

This is a literal, compositional noun phrase: 'act' (an action) + 'of' (linking preposition) + 'fornication' (sexual activity between unmarried people). If a B1 learner knows the constituent words, the overall meaning is directly derivable and follows a cross-linguistically common syntactic pattern, so it is transparent.

Etymology

The phrase act of fornication comes from an old Latin word fornix, meaning an 'arch' or doorway, and one popular story says that in ancient Rome places for paid sex stood under arches, so the word became linked to sex outside marriage. That's why fornication now means 'sexual intercourse between two people who are not married to each other'.