Violated

How to spell violated

8 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce violated

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does violated mean?

1. verbBroke or failed to comply with a law, rule, or agreement.
2. verbIntruded upon or infringed a person's privacy, dignity, or personal space.

Violated in a sentence

• The driver violated the speed limit on three separate occasions.

• The leaked photographs violated her privacy in a deeply distressing way.

• The company violated the terms of its supplier contract.

• He felt the search of his locker violated his basic rights.

Where does violated come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the past form of 'violate', which comes from the Latin verb violare, meaning to treat with force, to do violence to, or to dishonour. That verb grew from vis, the Latin noun for force or strength, so the original idea was quite literally the application of brute force against something or someone. Latin writers already used violare for breaking oaths, profaning sacred places, and assaulting people, so the modern range of meanings (breaking a rule, invading privacy, attacking a person) was present from the start. English took the word in during the fifteenth century, and the same vis root survives in the everyday words 'violence' and 'violent', which makes the spelling easy to anchor: think of the calm-sounding 'viol' that hides a forceful past. The single 'l' and the plain '-ated' ending are the things writers most often second-guess.

How the word is built

• viol- (from Latin violare: to treat with force, do violence to)
• -ate (verb-forming suffix)
• -ed (past tense / past participle)