CRIME • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Crime

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/kraɪm/ Listen

noun

Crime n.

1.

Any violation of law, either divine or human; an omission of a duty commanded, or the commission of an act forbidden by law.

2.

Gross violation of human law, in distinction from a misdemeanor or trespass, or other slight offense. Hence, also, any aggravated offense against morality or the public welfare; any outrage or great wrong. "To part error from crime." Note: Crimes, in the English common law, are grave offenses which were originally capitally punished (murder, rape, robbery, arson, burglary, and larceny), as distinguished from misdemeanors, which are offenses of a lighter grade. See Misdemeanors.

3.

Any great wickedness or sin; iniquity. "No crime was thine, if 'tis no crime to love."

4.

That which occasion crime. (Obs.) "The tree of life, the crime of our first father's fall."

Capital crime, a crime punishable with death.

Synonyms: Sin; vice; iniquity; wrong. Crime, Sin,Vice. Sin is the generic term, embracing wickedness of every kind, but specifically denoting an offense as committed against God. Crime is strictly a violation of law either human or divine; but in present usage the term is commonly applied to actions contrary to the laws of the State. Vice is more distinctively that which springs from the inordinate indulgence of the natural appetites, which are in themselves innocent. Thus intemperance, unchastity, duplicity, etc., are vices; while murder, forgery, etc., which spring from the indulgence of selfish passions, are crimes.

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Etymology of 'Crime'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Crime" Quotes from Famous Books

... frowns here and there. Then, slowly, I realized that some folks, a few, even several, actually considered my brown skin a misfortune; once or twice I became painfully aware that some human beings even thought it a crime. I was not for a moment daunted,—although, of course, there were some days of secret tears—rather I was spurred to tireless effort. If they beat me at anything, I was grimly determined to make them sweat for it! Once I remember challenging a great, ...

— Darkwater - Voices From Within The Veil • W. E. B. Du Bois

... of Domitian Marcus was taken to his prison near the Temple of Mars. Here, because of his wealth and rank, because also he made appeal to Caesar and was therefore as yet uncondemned of any crime, he found himself well treated. Two good rooms were given him to live in, and his own steward, Stephanus, was allowed to attend him and provide him with food and all he needed. Also upon giving his word that he would attempt no escape, he was allowed to walk in the gardens ...

— Pearl-Maiden • H. Rider Haggard

... of gold, for which the sale value of the vessel and her goods should be chargeable, or otherwise, to procure the release of Margaret and Betty, if they still lived, and to bring d'Aguilar, the Marquis of Morella, to account for his crime. This done, he called to one of his servants to buckle on him a light steel breastplate from the ship's stores. But Peter would wear no iron because it was too heavy, only an archer's jerkin of bull-hide, stout enough to turn a sword-cut, such ...

— Fair Margaret • H. Rider Haggard

... what crime you are accused, and that your pretence of chastity has availed you nothing, since you are well known to be ...

— The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. III. (of V.) • Margaret, Queen Of Navarre

... between us, at all events. I shall never go to see her again; she's a woman who thinks of nothing but money and fashion. I dislike her friends, every one of them I've met. I told her that what she had done ought to be a punishable crime.' ...

— In the Year of Jubilee • George Gissing

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