Idiomer
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English · Idiom Historical

Age of Consent

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

This is the age at which a girl's consent is valid; beneath that age to have carnal knowledge of her is a criminal offence. In English and Scottish law the age of consent is 16.

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Examples

Statutory rape is defined as sexual relations between one member who is above the age of consent and one who is below, even if their difference in age is insignificant.Hiếp dâm theo luật định là mối quan hệ tình dục giữa một người trên độ tuổi đồng thuận và một người dưới độ tuổi này, cho dù ít khác biệt về tuổi tác.
Statutory rape is defined as sexual relations between one member who is above the age of consent and one who is below, even if their difference in age is insignificant.Hiếp dâm theo luật định là mối quan hệ tình dục giữa một người trên độ tuổi đồng thuận và một người dưới độ tuổi này, cho dù ít khác biệt về tuổi tác.

Tatoeba sentence #2337163 (CC BY 2.0 FR, tatoeba.org, retrieved 2026-07-31)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Topics: Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “Age of Consent” mean?

This is the age at which a girl's consent is valid; beneath that age to have carnal knowledge of her is a criminal offence. In English and Scottish law the age of consent is 16.

Is “Age of Consent” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.