From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcarnalcar‧nal /ˈkɑːnl $ ˈkɑːrnl/ adjective formal 1 SEX/HAVE SEX WITHrelating to sex or someone’s body carnal desires2 → carnal knowledge/relations —carnally adverb
Examples from the Corpus
carnal• It is notable primarily for its lack of carnal interest.• The fruit was carnal knowledge, and everybody from Thomas Aquinas to Milton knew it.• In the end she opts for the serious, renounces carnal love, and decides to become a Catholic.• She knew what loving meant perhaps, but little of violence and carnal needs.• I thought about carnal pleasure, and looked around and felt certain that something cataclysmic was well on its way.• But not, he swears, in a carnal sense.• He had had to confess his carnal thoughts to Father Devlin and had been severely censured.Origin carnal (1400-1500) Late Latin carnalis, from Latin caro “flesh” 