sin

Pronunciation

• IPA: /sɪn/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English sinne, inherited from Old English synn (“wrongdoing, offence, misdeed”),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *sundjō,^[3][2] which also gave Old Frisian sende, Old Saxon sundia, Dutch zonde, German Sünde and Old Norse synd.^[2][3][4] It is probably related to Latin sōns (“guilty”),^[3][5][6] which Barnhart explains as a specialized use of the old present participle of esse (“to be”);^[3] according to Watkins, as cited in Etymonline, the notion was “it is true”, that is “the guilt is real”, from PIE *es-ont-, the participle of Proto-Indo-European *es- (“to be”) (compare sooth).^[2] The verb is from Old English syngian, from the same source as the noun.^[3][2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

An act that breaks divine law, and wrongdoing in general: about 825 in the OED, before 830 in Barnhart.^[7][3] Old English synn also meant injury, enmity and guilt.^[2]

Semantic evolution

A pity or shame (“it's a sin”) is from about 1300 and is still colloquial, especially in Scotland.^[7] A breach of a standard of taste or propriety is from 1780.^[7] Ugly as sin and similar phrases date from the early 17th century.^[7] Sin-eater, one paid to take on a dead person's sins by eating food over the corpse, is from the 1680s,^[2] and to live in sin, to live together unmarried, from 1838.^[2][7] In Shetland and other Scots dialects sin also meant blame.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 825 – sin, the noun and the verb.^[7]
• c. 1300 – a pity or shame.^[7]
• 1680s – sin-eater.^[2]
• 1780 – a breach of taste.^[7]
• 1838 – to live in sin.^[2][7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An act that breaks a religious or moral law, especially on purpose.
2. (theology) Disobedience to the known will of God, or the state of separation from God that results.
3. Something thought shameful, wasteful or foolish: it's a sin to waste it.

Verb

1. To commit a sin; to do wrong.

Word family

• sinlike
• sinningly
• sinningness
• sinful
• sinless
• outsin
• sinner
• actual sin

Related words

• sooth

Usage notes

Sin is also the 21st letter of the Hebrew alphabet, from Hebrew śin, recorded about 1823,^[5][9] and the standard abbreviation of sine in trigonometry, pronounced /saɪn/.^[10][1] The Scots and northern sin “since” is a contraction of sithen.^[10][8]

References

1. ^ a b 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 g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
10. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press