criminal

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkrɪm.ɪ.nᵊl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English cryminall,^[2] borrowed from Old French criminel (“criminal, despicable”),^[3][2] and directly from Late Latin crīminālis (“pertaining to crime”),^[3][4] from Latin crīmen (“charge, crime”), genitive crīminis.^[3][2] It keeps the Latin -n-.^[3] See crime.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Sinful, wicked: about 1400 in Etymonline.^[3] The OED's first example, of the nature of a crime, is from 1430.^[5]

Semantic evolution

“Of or relating to a legally punishable offence” is from the mid-15th century,^[3] and “relating to crime or its punishment” from 1474.^[5] “Guilty of crime” is from the late 15th century,^[3][5] and of beasts, “savage, fierce”, from about 1477, now obsolete.^[5] Criminal law has been distinguished from civil since at least the late 15th century.^[3] The criminal court, first in Scotland, is from 1597,^[5] and the criminal code from 1788.^[5] The noun, a person who has committed a crime, is from the 1620s^[3] (1610 in Merriam-Webster, from French criminel).^[2] The weakened sense “disgraceful, deplorable”, as in a criminal waste, is colloquial.^[6][7]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – sinful, wicked.^[3]
• 1430 – of the nature of a crime.^[5]
• 1474 – relating to crime.^[5]
• late 15th century – guilty of crime.^[3]
• 1597 – criminal court.^[5]
• 1610 – noun, a criminal.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Of, involving or being a crime.
2. Relating to the administration of penal law: criminal court.
3. Guilty of crime.
4. Shameful; disgraceful: a criminal waste of money.

Noun

1. A person who has committed, or been convicted of, a crime.

Word family

• criminally
• criminogenic
• criminology
• noncriminal
• subcriminal
• supercriminal
• uncriminal
• criminalist

Related words

• crime
• incriminate
• recrimination

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster