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fornication

noun

  1. consensual sexual intercourse between two people not married to each other
L1095340 on Wikidata ↗

noun

  1. (architecture) an arching or vaulting
L1403425 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˌfɔɹnɪˈkeɪʃən/

noun

Etymology: From Middle English fornicacioun, from Old French fornicacion, from Latin fornicātiō, from fornix (“brothel”).

  1. Sexual intercourse by people who are not married to each other, or which is considered illicit in another way.

    FRIAR BARNARDINE. Thou hast committed— BARABAS. Fornication: but that was in another country; And besides, the wench is dead.

    I am the sister of one Claudio, Condemned upon the act of fornication To lose his head, condemned by Angelo

  2. Sexual intercourse in general; sex.

    For a moment he stared at the back of the Lascar, wondering if he were the youth that he had disturbed during fornication with his Engineer, then dismissed all thoughts of the previous night, he was getting old, and suspicious, what did it matter […]