Etymologically
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criminal

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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
  • 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