TRANSGRESSION

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does transgression mean? 

• TRANSGRESSION (noun)
  The noun TRANSGRESSION has 3 senses:

1. the act of transgressing; the violation of a law or a duty or moral principle

2. the spreading of the sea over land as evidenced by the deposition of marine strata over terrestrial strata

3. the action of going beyond or overstepping some boundary or limit

  Familiarity information: TRANSGRESSION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TRANSGRESSION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of transgressing; the violation of a law or a duty or moral principle

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

evildoing; transgression

Context example:

the boy was punished for the transgressions of his father

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

actus reus; misconduct; wrongdoing; wrongful conduct (activity that transgresses moral or civil law)

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

abomination (an action that is vicious or vile; an action that arouses disgust or abhorrence)

evil; immorality; iniquity; wickedness (morally objectionable behavior)

villainy (a criminal or vicious act)

depravity; turpitude (a corrupt or depraved or degenerate act or practice)

vice (a specific form of evildoing)

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

terrorisation; terrorization (an act of terrorism)

offence; offense (a transgression that constitutes a violation of what is judged to be right)

crime (an evil act not necessarily punishable by law)

inside job (some transgression committed with the assistance of someone trusted by the victim)

Derivation:

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

transgress (act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The spreading of the sea over land as evidenced by the deposition of marine strata over terrestrial strata

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

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

geological phenomenon (a natural phenomenon involving the structure or composition of the earth)

Derivation:

transgress (spread over land, especially along a subsiding shoreline)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The action of going beyond or overstepping some boundary or limit

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

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

action (something done (usually as opposed to something said))

Derivation:

transgress (pass beyond (limits or boundaries))

 Context examples 

It would have been a much better transgression had I broken the bond of secrecy and told you every thing.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Lady Russell, in spite of all her former transgressions, he could now value from his heart.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

His primacy was savage, and savagely he ruled, administering justice with a club, punishing transgression with the pain of a blow, and rewarding merit, not by kindness, but by withholding a blow.

(White Fang, by Jack London)