Hypertext Webster Gateway: "fornication"
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)
Fornication
in every form of it was sternly condemned by the Mosaic law
(Lev. 21:9; 19:29; Deut. 22:20, 21, 23-29; 23:18; Ex. 22:16).
(See {ADULTERY}.)
But this word is more frequently used in a symbolical than in
its ordinary sense. It frequently means a forsaking of God or a
following after idols (Isa. 1:2; Jer. 2:20; Ezek. 16; Hos. 1:2;
2:1-5; Jer. 3:8,9).
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Fornication \For`ni*ca"tion\, n. [F. fornication, L.
fornicatio.]
1. Unlawful sexual intercourse on the part of an unmarried
person; the act of such illicit sexual intercourse between
a man and a woman as does not by law amount to adultery.
Note: In England, the offense, though cognizable in the
ecclesiastical courts, was not at common law subject to
secular prosecution. In the United States it is
indictable in some States at common law, in others only
by statute. --Whartyon.
2. (Script.)
(a) Adultery.
(b) Incest.
(c) Idolatry.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
fornication
n 1: voluntary sexual intercourse between persons not married to
each other
2: extramarital sex that willfully and maliciously interferes
with marriage relations; "adultery is often cited as
grounds for divorce" [syn: {adultery}, {criminal
conversation}]
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