violate

vi·o·late

verb

Violate is to fail to comply with a requirement or rule, to fail to respect someone's privacy or to fail to respect someone or something sacred.

When you drive 70 miles per hour in an area where the speed limit is only 55 miles per hour, this is an example of a situation where you violate the speed limit.
When you read someone's diary without permission, this is an example of when you violate his privacy.
When a man forces a woman to have sex with him against her will, this is an example of when he violates her.

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"violate." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Violate>.

APA Style

violate. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Violate

violate

transitive verb

-·lat·ed, -·lat·ing

to break (a law, rule, promise, etc.); fail to keep or observe; infringe on
to commit a sexual assault on; often, specif., to rape (a woman)
to desecrate or profane (something sacred)
to break in upon; interrupt thoughtlessly; disturb: to violate someone's privacy
to offend, insult, or outrage: to violate one's sense of decency

Origin of violate

Middle English violaten from Classical Latin violatus, past participle of violare, to use force or violence, akin to vis, force

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Link to this page

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MLA Style

"violate." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Violate>.

APA Style

violate. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Violate

violate

transitive verb

vi·o·lat·ed, vi·o·lat·ing, vi·o·lates

To disregard or act in a manner that does not conform to (a law or promise, for example).
To assault (a person) sexually.
To do harm to (property or qualities considered sacred); desecrate or defile.
To disturb rudely or improperly; interrupt: violated our privacy.

Origin of violate

Middle English violaten from Latin violāre violāt- from vīs vi- force ; see weiə- in Indo-European roots.

Related Forms:

vi′o·la′tive
adjective

vi′o·la′tor
noun

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"violate." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Violate>.

APA Style

violate. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Violate

Verb

(third-person singular simple present violates, present participle violating, simple past and past participle violated)

To break, disregard, disagree or not act according to (rules, conventions, etc.).
To rape.

Origin

From Latin violatus, past participle of violare (“treat with violence, whether bodily or mental"), from vis (“strength, power, force, violence")

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.