Link Centre Dictionary

violate

vio·late

UK/ˈvaɪəˌleɪt/ US/ˈvaɪʌleɪt/ fairly common slang

verb

1.

fail to agree with; be in violation of; as of rules or patterns

  • “This sentence violates the rules of syntax”
Synonyms
Antonyms
2.

act in disregard of laws and rules

  • “offend all laws of humanity”
  • “violate the basic laws or human civilization”
  • “break a law”
Synonyms
3.

destroy

  • “Don”
  • “;”
4.

violate the sacred character of a place or language

  • “desecrate a cemetary”
  • “violate the sanctity of the church”
  • “profane the name of God”
Synonyms
5.

force (someone) to have sex against their will

  • “The woman was raped on her way home at night”
Synonyms
6.

destroy and strip of its possession

  • “The soldiers raped the beautiful country”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English violaten (“to defile, render impure”), from violat(e) (“defiled, desecrated”, also used as the past participle of violaten) + -en, borrowed from Latin violātus, perfect passive participle of violō (“to treat with violence (whether bodily or mental)”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Ultimately from vīs (“strength, power, force, violence”).

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.