crime
UK: kraɪm | US: kraɪm
n. an illegal act punishable by law
n. an action or activity considered morally wrong or evil
n. (informal) a shameful or regrettable act
crime = crim<fault, accusation> + e (silent)
- crim<fault, accusation>: From Latin crimen (charge, accusation, guilt), derived from cernere (to decide, judge). The root implies a judgment of wrongdoing.
- e: A silent vowel added in Middle English, likely for phonetic or orthographic adaptation.
Etymology Origin:
The word crime traces back to Latin crimen, reflecting the concept of legal or moral judgment. Originally tied to judicial accusations, it evolved in Old French (crime) to broadly denote offenses against law or morality. The silent -e in English preserves historical spelling without altering pronunciation.
Theft is considered a serious crime in most countries.
He committed a crime out of desperation.
Pollution is often described as an environmental crime.
She felt guilty, as if she had committed a crime.
The detective solved the crime using forensic evidence.