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intimate partner violence (IPV)

Definition of Intimate Partner Violence

(noun) Violence that occurs between individuals in a romantic or sexual relationship.

Intimate Partner Violence Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: in·ti·mate part·ner vi·o·lence

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

Phonetic Spelling

  • American English – /In-tuh-muht pAHRt-nuhr vIE-uh-luhns/
  • British English – /In-ti-mit pAHt-nuh vIE-uh-luhns/

International Phonetic Alphabet

  • American English – /ˈɪntəmət ˈpɑrtnər ˈvaɪələns/
  • British English – /ˈɪntɪmɪt ˈpɑːtnə ˈvaɪələns/

Usage Notes

  • Abbreviation: IPV
  • Violence can take obvious forms, such as physical abuse, and subtle forms, like psychological abuse. However, subtle forms may include control of an individual’s agency or being, verbal attacks, acts of body language.

Additional Information

Related Terms


Works Consulted

Ferris, Kerry, and Jill Stein. 2010. The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology. 2nd ed. New York: Norton.

Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.

Kimmel, Michael S., and Amy Aronson. 2012. Sociology Now. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Cite the Definition of Intimate Partner Violence

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “intimate partner violence.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 28, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/intimate-partner-violence/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

intimate partner violence. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/intimate-partner-violence/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “intimate partner violence.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 28, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/intimate-partner-violence/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“intimate partner violence.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/intimate-partner-violence/>.