Sin — Defs

01 adv., prep., & conj. Old form of Since.

1.
Old form of Since.[Obs. or Prov. Eng. & Scot.] See: Since
“Sin that his lord was twenty year of age.” — Chaucer.

02 n. Transgression of the law of God; disobedience of the divine command; any violation of God's will, either in purpose or conduct; moral defic…

1.
Transgression of the law of God; disobedience of the divine command; any violation of God's will, either in purpose or conduct; moral deficiency in the character; iniquity; as, sins of omission and sins of commission.
“Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” — John viii. 34.

“Sin is the transgression of the law.” — 1 John iii. 4.

“I think 't no sin. To cozen him that would unjustly win.” — Shak.

“Enthralled By sin to foul, exorbitant desires.” — Milton.
2.
An offense, in general; a violation of propriety; a misdemeanor; as, a sin against good manners.
“I grant that poetry's a crying sin.” — Pope.
3.
A sin offering; a sacrifice for sin.
“He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin.” — 2 Cor. v. 21.
4.
An embodiment of sin; a very wicked person.[R.]
“Thy ambition, Thou scarlet sin, robbed this bewailing land Of noble Buckingham.” — Shak.

Phrases & compounds

Actual sin — See under Actual, Canonical, etc.

Deadly sins — willful and deliberate transgressions, which take away divine grace; -- in distinction from vental sins. The seven deadly sins are pride, covetousness, lust, wrath, gluttony, envy, and sloth.

Sin eater — a man who (according to a former practice in England) for a small gratuity ate a piece of bread laid on the chest of a dead person, whereby he was supposed to have taken the sins of the dead person upon himself.

Sin offering — a sacrifice for sin; something offered as an expiation for sin.

Syn. Iniquity; wickedness; wrong. See Crime.

03 v. i. To depart voluntarily from the path of duty prescribed by God to man; to violate the divine law in any particular, by actual transgression …

imp. & p. p. Sinned; p. pr. & vb. n. Sinning

1.
To depart voluntarily from the path of duty prescribed by God to man; to violate the divine law in any particular, by actual transgression or by the neglect or nonobservance of its injunctions; to violate any known rule of duty; -- often followed by against.
“Against thee, thee only, have I sinned.” — Ps. li. 4.

“All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” — Rom. iii. 23.
2.
To violate human rights, law, or propriety; to commit an offense; to trespass; to transgress.
“I am a man More sinned against than sinning.” — Shak.

“Who but wishes to invert the laws Of order, sins against the eternal cause.” — Pope.