1864: rape (Sussex) Jan 22, 2020

Another subdivision from among the historical English counties is 'rape' used in Sussex, but there is some debate about whether this is from the French or English, and not because no one wants to be associated with that word. Most people take this to be from the Old English rāp (rope), as this is how divisions would have been measured and shown. This is also found in a few other Germanic languages.

The other idea, though less popular, is that like the criminal sense of the word it comes from the Old French 'raper' meaning 'take by force', which did actually originally refer to land dating back to Latin. The reason for this thinking is that the Normans would have not wanted to adopt a local word, but local words are found throughout and after the Norman administration of England.

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