fornicator
fornicator Lexical Profile
fornicator Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A person who engages in consensual sexual intercourse with someone to whom they are not married (chiefly in religious or moralistic contexts).
"The seventeenth-century parish records frequently listed the names of accused fornicators who were summoned before the ecclesiastical court."
Word Nuance & Usage
Primarily used in religious, biblical, or moralistic contexts, "fornicator" strictly refers to someone engaging in sexual intercourse outside of marriage, whereas "adulterer" specifically denotes a married person who has sex with someone other than their spouse.
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Old French fornicateur and Late Latin fornicator, deriving from the Latin verb fornicari ("to visit a brothel"), which traces back to fornix ("arch" or "vaulted underground chamber," where Roman brothels were commonly located).