Word.ws English Dictionary

fornicate

/ˈfɔː.nɪˌkeɪt/US/ˈfɔɹ.nɪˌkeɪt/

fornicate verb: to engage in fornication.

Verb

fornicate (third-person singular simple present fornicates, present participle fornicating, simple past and past participle fornicated)

  1. (intransitive) To engage in fornication.

Adjective

UK/ˈfɔː.nɪ.kət/US/ˈfɔɹ.nɪ.kət/

fornicate (comparative more fornicate, superlative most fornicate)

  1. (especially) Shaped like an arch or vault; resembling a fornix.

fornicate meaning in Tamil, Kannada, Tagalog and Arabic

fornicate in Tamil

திருமணமாகாமல் உடலுறவு கொள், கற்பின்றி நட, விபச்சாரம் செய்

fornicate in Kannada

ಸಂಭೋಗ ಮಾಡು, ವ್ಯಭಿಚಾರಮಾಡು

fornicate in Tagalog

to engage in fornication
makipagtalik

fornicate in Arabic

to engage in fornication
زَنَى zanā
More languagesFewer languages
fornicate in Malay
sanggama, senggama, amput

Forms of fornicate

Verb
third-person singular presentfornicates
present participlefornicating
past participlefornicated
pastfornicated
Adjective
comparativemore fornicate
superlativemost fornicate
alternative formfornicated

Origin of fornicate

First attested in 1552; borrowed from Latin fornicātus, perfect active participle of fornicor (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from fornix (“arch, vault; brothel”). It was customary for courtesans of the era to wait for their customers out of the rain in arched passageways.

First attested in 1828; from fornix + -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

Words formed from fornicate

Phrases with fornicate

Questions about fornicate

What does fornicate mean?
Fornicate means to engage in fornication.
What is fornicate in Tamil?
Fornicate in Tamil is திருமணமாகாமல் உடலுறவு கொள், கற்பின்றி நட, விபச்சாரம் செய். See Fornicate meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is fornicate?
Fornicate can be a verb or an adjective.
How do you pronounce fornicate?
Fornicate is pronounced /ˈfɔː.nɪˌkeɪt/ (UK).
What is the past tense of fornicate?
The past tense of fornicate is fornicated.

Words near fornicate in the dictionary

  1. Forneys
  2. Fornham St Martin
  3. Forni
  4. fornical
  5. Fornicalia
  6. fornicate
  7. fornicate gyri
  8. fornicate gyrus
  9. fornicate gyruses
  10. fornicated
  11. fornicates

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: fornicate (page history and authors); fornicate (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); fornicate (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-fornicate2.wav.

Cite this entry: “fornicate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fornicate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.