incest

[ in-sest ]

noun

1. sexual intercourse between closely related persons.
2. the crime of sexual intercourse, cohabitation, or marriage between persons within the degrees of consanguinity or affinity wherein marriage is legally forbidden.

incest

/ ˈɪnsɛst /

noun

1. sexual intercourse between two persons commonly regarded as too closely related to marry

incest

1. Sexual relations between relatives who are forbidden by law to marry; for example, between father and daughter or mother and son.

Notes

Though each society has its own system for determining the range of people who fall into this category, every society has an incest taboo of some sort.

Word History and Origins

Origin of incest¹

1175–1225; Middle English < Latin incestus (noun) sexual impurity, derivative of incestus (adj.) profane, sexually impure ( in- in- ³ + -cestus combining form of castus chaste ), by analogy with v. nouns derived with -tus

Word History and Origins

Origin of incest¹

C13: from Latin incestus incest (from adj: impure, defiled), from in- ¹+ castus chaste

Example Sentences

Over the course of his band's wildly influential career, his fractured, often abstract songs have referenced Biblical violence, mutilation, incest, torture and death.

From BBC

He said he would support a national ban on abortion, with the exception of cases that involve incest or risk the life of the woman.

From Los Angeles Times

It was “the right call” to refuse “letters that bordered on illegality or bestiality or incest”, she says.

From BBC

I would venture to say almost all of us know some family that's been touched by significant sibling incest.

From Salon

Once we get past the Targaryen incest of it all, it boils down to a succession story stewed in envy and that timeless plague, sexism.

From Salon