Definition of "fornicate" [for•ni•cate]

• To commit fornication. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "As for Paul, whose writings make up much of the New Testament outside the Gospels, I had been taught that the word sometimes translated as "fornicate" (porneia), which Paul uses quite a lot, frequently refers to premarital sex -- an assumption that's common in conservative Christian writings on this topic."
• "But in fact, Paul uses "fornicate" in myriad ways, and in only one verse -- I Corinthians 7: 9 -- does it seem to refer to sex before marriage."
• "Given that people were sharing cabins, some had opted to "fornicate" on deck in view of anyone walking past in the early hours of the morning, rather than disturb their cabin mates, he said."