SIN (sinned, sinning)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: sinned    , sinning   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Sin mean? 

• SIN (noun)
  The noun SIN has 5 senses:

1. estrangement from god

2. an act that is regarded by theologians as a transgression of God's will

3. ratio of the length of the side opposite the given angle to the length of the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle

4. (Akkadian) god of the Moon; counterpart of Sumerian Nanna

5. the 21st letter of the Hebrew alphabet

  Familiarity information: SIN used as a noun is common.

• SIN (verb)
  The verb SIN has 2 senses:

1. commit a sin; violate a law of God or a moral law

2. commit a faux pas or a fault or make a serious mistake

  Familiarity information: SIN used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SIN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Estrangement from god

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

sin; sinfulness; wickedness

Hypernyms ("sin" is a kind of...):

unrighteousness (failure to adhere to moral principles)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sin"):

mark of Cain (the mark that God set upon Cain now refers to a person's sinful nature)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An act that is regarded by theologians as a transgression of God's will

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

sin; sinning

Hypernyms ("sin" is a kind of...):

evildoing; transgression (the act of transgressing; the violation of a law or a duty or moral principle)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sin"):

fall (a lapse into sin; a loss of innocence or of chastity)

actual sin (a sin committed of your own free will (as contrasted with original sin))

original sin (a sin said to be inherited by all descendants of Adam)

deadly sin; mortal sin (an unpardonable sin entailing a total loss of grace)

venial sin (a pardonable sin regarded as entailing only a partial loss of grace)

Derivation:

sin (commit a sin; violate a law of God or a moral law)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Ratio of the length of the side opposite the given angle to the length of the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Synonyms:

sin; sine

Hypernyms ("sin" is a kind of...):

circular function; trigonometric function (function of an angle expressed as a ratio of the length of the sides of right-angled triangle containing the angle)

Sense 4

Meaning:

(Akkadian) god of the Moon; counterpart of Sumerian Nanna

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

Semitic deity (a deity worshipped by the ancient Semites)

Domain region:

Mesopotamia (the land between the Tigris and Euphrates; site of several ancient civilizations; part of what is now known as Iraq)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The 21st letter of the Hebrew alphabet

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("sin" is a kind of...):

alphabetic character; letter; letter of the alphabet (the conventional characters of the alphabet used to represent speech)

Holonyms ("sin" is a part of...):

Hebraic alphabet; Hebrew alphabet; Hebrew script (a Semitic alphabet used since the 5th century BC for writing the Hebrew language (and later for writing Yiddish and Ladino))

• SIN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they sin    ... he / she / it sins   
Past simple: sinned   
Past participle: sinned   
-ing form: sinning   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Commit a sin; violate a law of God or a moral law

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

sin; transgress; trespass

Hypernyms (to "sin" is one way to...):

breach; break; go against; infract; offend; transgress; violate (act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sin"):

fall (yield to temptation or sin)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

sin (an act that is regarded by theologians as a transgression of God's will)

sinner (a person who sins (without repenting))

sinning (an act that is regarded by theologians as a transgression of God's will)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Commit a faux pas or a fault or make a serious mistake

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

blunder; boob; drop the ball; goof; sin

Context example:

I blundered during the job interview

Hypernyms (to "sin" is one way to...):

breach; break; go against; infract; offend; transgress; violate (act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

 Context examples 

There's a deal of sin in mother.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Do not let us forget that this is a solemn matter, he said ere long; one of which we may neither think nor talk lightly without sin.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

You've broken your trust; you've lived in sin and lies and blood; there's a man you killed lying at your feet this moment, and you ask me why!

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Love covers a multitude of sins, and of whom could you ask more freely than of him?

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

It was before I knew that my sin had found me out.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Doubtless you mean no sin,” said Alleyne.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

While you considered me as having sinned against Emma Woodhouse, I could deserve nothing from either.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

I do no sin, for I am true to the promptings of the life that is in me.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

When the courtiers heard this they were shocked, and said, “Heaven forbid that a father should marry his daughter! Out of so great a sin no good can come.”

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

There was about him no consciousness of sin.

(White Fang, by Jack London)