misdemeanantn.
/ˌmɪsdᵻˈmiːnənt/, U.S. /ˌmɪsdəˈminənt/ 1. A person convicted of a misdemeanour. Now chiefly U.S.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > [noun] > crime > a criminal or law-breaker > a convicted criminal
misdemeanor1812
misdemeanant1819
misdemeanist1862
1819 J. J. Gurney Notes on Visit to Prisons 78 The only division of these females being that of misdemeanants from felons. Amongst the men, the classification is much more complete; for, the misdemeanants are divided into three classes, and the felons into four.
1843 Penny Cycl. XXV. 150/1 Misdemeanants of the first division.
1896 Times 30 July 5/6 Dr. Jameson and his fellow-prisoners..were placed in the apartments reserved for first-class misdemeanants.
1938 H. Wilson (title) The treatment of the misdemeanant in Indiana, 1816-1936.
1977 New Yorker 26 Sept. 96/2 There used to be prostitutes, pimps, addicts, shoplifters in prison, but very few misdemeanants end up there now.
1994 Progressive (Electronic ed.) 1 Dec. The voters who re-elected [him]..only returned a misdemeanant to office.
2015 Current Archaeol. Dec. 36/2 Dedicated [prison] blocks for misdemeanants and vagrants.
2. gen. Any person guilty of misconduct.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > guilt > guilty person > [noun]
nocent1447
culpable1483
wite1513
guilty1550
misdemeanant1886
society > morality > moral evil > wrong conduct > [noun] > one guilty of
misdemeanant1886
1886 A. M. Elliott in Amer. Jrnl. Philol. 7 146 They were no set of political convicts or social misdemeanants.
1892 W. Beatty-Kingston Intemperance 34 To be compelled to slake their thirst with water would be no great hardship to these confirmed misdemeanants.
1966 New Statesman 6 May 659/2 The impact of Greece on this psychic misdemeanant is immediate and shocking.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1819