unlawful carnal knowledge
- noun
- NSFW
:
conocimiento carnal ilícito
- Many societies have laws that define unlawful carnal knowledge as a serious crime.
Examples
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I don't know whether or not you know, but the city's coming down on people involved with unlawful carnal knowledge.
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The judge sentenced him to five years in prison for committing unlawful carnal knowledge with a minor.
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She testified that the incident involved unlawful carnal knowledge, which violated state law.
Synonyms
2
8.3
Sex between people, usually meaning one person entering another, used in legal texts
Sexual activity the law makes illegal, for example sex with a close family member or with a child
Sex by an adult with someone under the legal age
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'unlawful' (illegal) and 'carnal' (sexual) give a clear hint that the phrase concerns illegal sexual activity, but the noun 'knowledge' in this legal/archaic sense meaning 'sexual intercourse' is not the standard meaning a B1 learner would expect. Because understanding the full legal/idiomatic use of 'knowledge' requires prior exposure, the overall sense is only partially predictable from the parts.
Etymology
Unlawful carnal knowledge comes from old court language. Carnal means 'of the body' and knowledge was an old polite word for 'sexual relations', so the phrase was a formal way to say 'unlawful' sexual intercourse.