sin

¹ American  

[sin] / sɪn /

noun

1. transgression of divine law.

   the sin of Adam.

   Synonyms:

   violation, trespass, misdeed

2. any act regarded as such a transgression, especially a willful or deliberate violation of some religious or moral principle.

   Synonyms:

   wickedness, wrong

3. any reprehensible or regrettable action, behavior, lapse, etc.; great fault or offense.

   It's a sin to waste time.

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verb (used without object)

sinned, sinning

1. to commit a sinful act.

   Synonyms:

   trespass, transgress

2. to offend against a principle, standard, etc.

verb (used with object)

sinned, sinning

1. to commit or perform sinfully.

   He sinned his crimes without compunction.

2. to bring, drive, etc., by sinning.

   He sinned his soul to perdition.

sin ² American  

[seen] / sin /

noun

1. the 22nd letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

2. the consonant sound represented by this letter.

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sin ³ American  

abbreviation

Trigonometry.

1. sine.

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sīn ⁴ American  

[seen] / sin /

noun

1. the 12th letter of the Arabic alphabet.

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Sin ⁵ American  

[seen] / sin /

noun

1. the Akkadian god of the moon: the counterpart of the Sumerian Nanna.

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sin ¹ British  

/ sɪn /

noun

1. theol

   1. transgression of God's known will or any principle or law regarded as embodying this

   2. the condition of estrangement from God arising from such transgression See also actual sin mortal sin original sin venial sin

2. any serious offence, as against a religious or moral principle

3. any offence against a principle or standard

4. informal (of an unmarried couple) to live together

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verb

1. theol to commit a sin

2. (usually foll by against) to commit an offence (against a person, principle, etc)

SIN ² British  

abbreviation

1. social insurance number

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sin ³ British  

/ siːn /

noun

1. a variant of shin, the 21st letter in the Hebrew alphabet (שׂ), transliterated as S See shin 2

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sin ⁴ British  

/ sɪn /

preposition

1. a Scot dialect word for since

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sin ⁵ British  

/ saɪn /

abbreviation

1. sine

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sin Scientific  

1. Abbreviation of sine

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sin Idioms  

1. see live in sin; more sinned against than sinning; multitude of sins; ugly as sin; wages of sin.

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Related Words

See crime.

Other Word Forms

• sinlike adjective
• sinner noun
• sinningly adverb
• sinningness noun
• unsinning adjective

Etymology

Origin of sin¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun sinne, sin(e), sen(ne), Old English syn(n) “moral or religious offense, misdeed”; akin to German Sünde, Old Norse synd, Latin sōns (inflectional stem sont- ) “guilty,” literally “that man being the one”; the verb is derivative of the noun; the Germanic and Latin forms all being present participle forms of the root es- “to be”; am ( def. )

Origin of sin²

First recorded in 1895–1900; from Hebrew śīn

Origin of sīn⁴

From Arabic

Example Sentences

Its strongest leaders spoke not only about the sins of segregation but also about the responsibilities of freedom, understanding that justice without moral renewal would leave communities politically visible but internally broken.

From The Wall Street Journal

Nothing will ever undo the original sin, and devoting your life to ruining someone else’s is a loss for both of you.

From Los Angeles Times

The real sin I had been committing was not that of inching toward the center of a platoon because I was cold.

From Literature

They focused on people who had leprosy, a disease historically linked with stigma and ideas of sin, as well as tuberculosis.

From Science Daily

“I know that suffering is not measurable or comparable,” Mr. Hale suggests, “but I believe this man has suffered more than he has sinned.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• crime
• error
• evil
• fault
• guilt
• immorality
• lust
• misdeed
• offense
• shortcoming
• transgression
• violation
• wrong
• wrongdoing