sinn.
/sɪn/, U.S. /sɪn/ 1.
a. An act which is regarded as a transgression of the divine law and an offence against God; a violation (esp. wilful or deliberate) of some religious or moral principle.The expression for my sins (see quot. 1843 at γ. ) is frequently employed in a trivial or jocular way. For the seven deadly sins see deadly adj. 5.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > sin > [noun] > instance of
sinc825
lahterc900
lastOE
debt?c1225
unkindnessa1400
piacle1644
peccancy1648
society > morality > moral evil > wrong conduct > evildoing or wrongdoing > [noun] > an evil deed > an evil deed, fault, or offence
sinc825
guilt971
man deedOE
evilOE
misbodea1200
follya1275
unthrift1303
misbreydec1380
offencec1384
crimec1390
forfeit1393
felonya1400
faultc1400
misfeatc1400
feat1481
demerit1485
misdemeanoura1513
facta1533
piaculum1575
miscarriage1579
delinquishment1593
delinquency1603
piacle1644
amissness1648
peccancy1648
society > morality > moral evil > wrong conduct > evildoing or wrongdoing > [phrase] > for one's offences
for my sins1808
α.
β. 971 Blickl. Hom. 43 Hie wenaþ þæt he heora senna alysan mæge.c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 11 Ðe werc of þesternesse, þat ben alle heuie sennen.12.. Prayer our Lady 5 in Old Eng. Misc. 192 Ich eom i-bunde sore mid wel feole seonne.c1315 Shoreham iii. 268 Þe dede ydo in lechery Hys ryȝt a dedleche senne.1340 Ayenbite (1866) 15 Þe zeue heauedes of þe beste of helle byeþ þe zeuen hauedliche zennes.1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis III. 224 The comun poeple..hath the kinges Senne aboght, Al thogh the poeple agulte noght.γ. 1154 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) ann. 1137 Suilc & mare..we þolenden xix wintre for ure sinnes.c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 7 Sainte Powel..sagh..þat hem likede here loðliche sinnes.a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 553 So cam on werlde wreche & wrake For to blissen swilc sinnes same.c1380 J. Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 108 Þes two beþ synnus of þe flesche.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 14010 Sco wepe hir sinnes sare.?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) II. lf. 239v All thy dayes [thou] hast lyuyd in multeplyyng of synnes & vices.1594 T. Lodge & R. Greene Looking Glasse sig. Fv And sir I pray you, what greater sinne is, then iealousie?c1600 Wriothesley's Chron. Eng. (1875) I. 14 Plenary remission of their synnes.1628 J. Doughty Church Schismes in Disc. Divine Myst. 4 Austin..chargeth them with no lesse a sinne, then with that of the holy ghost.1676 J. Owen Serm. in Wks. (1851) IX. 325 As some men's sins grow very high, other men's graces grow very low.1727 D. Defoe Syst. Magick i. iv. 113 Making her dream..of the Sin which he resolved to allure her to commit.1797 A. Radcliffe Italian II. iii. 104 ‘My mistress has committed some great sin, truely!’ said the servant.1808 Lady Lyttelton Let. 9 May (1912) 11 Now, would not you have thought he was a partisan of boxing? I did for my sins.1843 G. Borrow Bible in Spain I. xi. 220 At present, for my sins, I live in a village of the plain.1874 T. Hardy Far from Madding Crowd I. xxviii. 313 She felt like one who has sinned a great sin.1906 R. Brooke Let. 1 Apr. (1968) 47 About a year ago I got, for my sins, into the top form of the school.1961 I. Murdoch Severed Head v. 44 Rosemary..is for her sins a Mrs Michelis, having got married young.., to a dislikeable stockbroker called Bill Michelis, who subsequently left her.1973 Times 2 Nov. 23/3 Take the BSA case in which, for my sins and much against my will, I was concerned.c825 Vesp. Psalter cviii. 14 Syn modur his ne sie adilgad.
c888 Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. xxxiv. §3 Þæt is swiðe dyslic & swiðe micel syn þæt mon þæs wenan scyle be Gode.
971 Blickl. Hom. 25 Ure dæghwamlican synna þe we wið Godes willan geworht habbaþ.
971 Blickl. Hom. 63 Manige men wenaþ þæt morþor sy seo mæste synne.
c1100 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (MS. D) ann. 1066 Þa Frencyscan ahton wælstowe geweald, eall swa heom God uðe for folces synnon.
a1122 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) ann. 1086 Se ælmihtiga God..do him his synna forgifenesse.
c1175 Lamb. Hom. 35 Vfel is þet mon..nule him biþenchen þet his sunnen waxað.
12.. Prayer our Lady 31 in Old Eng. Misc. 193 Ich habbe..wel feole sunne ido þe me ofþincheð nuðe.
a1250 Owl & Nightingale 1395 Ne beoþ noht ones alle sunne, Vor þan hi beoþ tweire ikunne.
c1300 Harrow. Hell (Digby MS.) 12 In helle was..Dauit þe prophete and abraham, For þe sunnes of adam.
1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. xi. 69 Heore seed for þat sunne þe same wo drien.
b. transferred. A violation of some standard of taste or propriety.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > bad taste > unseemliness or unbecomingness > [noun] > instance of
indecorum1575
undecency1624
indecency1639
evagation1649
impropriety1685
sin1780
society > morality > dueness or propriety > moral impropriety > [noun] > instance of
unconabletya1340
indecorum1575
undecency1624
sin1780
impropriety1831
1780 Mirror No. 92 (1781) 3 155 All those sins against nature and simplicity, which artists of inferior merit are glad to practise.
1907 P. Dare From School to Stage viii. 146 The many literary sins I know I must have committed.
2.
a. Without article or plural. Violation of divine law; action or conduct characterized by this; a state of transgression against God or His commands.original sin: see original sin n. at original adj. and n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > wrong conduct > evildoing or wrongdoing > [noun]
sinc825
naughteOE
unnuteOE
sinningc1000
unrightOE
un-i-selthlOE
wonder1154
misguiltc1200
misdoinga1225
teeninga1225
miss?c1225
crimec1250
misdeed?c1250
wickednessa1300
mischiefa1387
evil-doing1398
mistakinga1400
perpetrationc1429
wrongingc1449
maledictionc1475
maleficence1533
wicked-doing1535
foul play1546
misdealing1571
flagition1598
delinquency1603
malefaction1604
meschancy1609
malefacture1635
misacting1651
guilt1726
flagitiosity1727
malpractice1739
malfeasance1856
peccation1861
miscreance1972
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > sin > [noun]
sinc825
sinningc1000
plightc1175
culpe1377
offensiona1382
mislooka1393
anomy1595
peccation1861
c825 Vesp. Psalter cviii. 7 Gebed his sie in synne.
c950 Lindisf. Gosp. John viii. 34 Eghuelc seðe wyrcas synn, ðræl is synnes.
a1050 Liber Scintill. (1889) 230 Mænige lif butan leahtre habban magon, butan synne hi na magon.
a1175 Cott. Hom. 227 Heo was buton senne acenned and his lif was all buton synne.
a1225 Leg. Kath. 91 Ha wes offearet of scheome & of sunne.
c1250 Kent. Serm. in Old Eng. Misc. 28 So us defendet þo ilke þinges fram senne.
1303 R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne 3485 More pryde, no more synne, Þan skorne god, mayst þou falle ynne.
c1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience 2357 Here may men se..How foul es syn and how fylande.
c1400 Rom. Rose 5078 Trowe not that I wolde hem twynne, Whanne in her love ther is no synne.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) iii. l. 323 Bot thou do so forsuth thou dois gret syne.
1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique 60 This lesson must not so curiously bee kept, as though it were sinne to make the deuision of fower, or fiue partes.
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iv. iii. 175 I that am honest, I that holde it sinne To breake the vow I am ingaged in. View more context for this quotation
1631 in S. R. Gardiner Rep. Cases Star Chamber & High Comm. (1886) 210 Such as will lye in sinne and goe on without repentance.
1681 J. Dryden Absalom & Achitophel 19 Because 'tis Sin to misimploy an hour.
1758 S. Hayward Seventeen Serm. i. 4 We are all under the guilt of Sin.
1773 H. Chapone Lett. Improvem. Mind II. 14 It is therefore your part to retire from such an occasion of sin.
1807–8 W. Wordsworth Eccl. Sonn. ii. xxv Mother! whose virgin bosom was uncrost With the least shade of thought to sin allied.
1842 Ld. Tennyson St. Simeon Stylites in Poems (new ed.) II. 58 A sinful man, conceived and born in sin.
1876 J. B. Mozley Serm. preached Univ. of Oxf. ii. 32 Old Jewish sin was heathen sin—it was open.
b. Personified.
ΚΠ
1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. G2 In thy shadie Cell..Sits sin to ceaze the soules that wander by him. View more context for this quotation
1626 R. Bernard Isle of Man i. 3 Sinne..a notable Thiefe and Robber.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 230 Meanwhile.., Within the Gates of Hell sate Sin and Death. View more context for this quotation
1819 P. B. Shelley Lines Euganean Hills in Rosalind & Helen 80 Sin smiled so as Sin only can.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Love & Duty in Poems (new ed.) II. 83 Shall..Sin itself be found The cloudy porch oft opening on the Sun?
c. In phrases child, or man, of sin; as black, or ugly, as sin. Also like (or worse than) sin: vehemently, intensely, vigorously. Cf. like the devil at devil n. Phrases 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > lack of beauty > ugliness > ugly [phrase]
as black, or ugly, as sin1821
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > [adjective] > intensely dark
pitchya1522
Cimmerian1598
pitch dark1704
pit-mirk1728
pitchy dark1732
pitch mirk?1795
as black, or ugly, as sin1827
the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > acting vigorously or energetically [phrase] > with great vigour or energy
with (also in) mood and maineOE
vigour13..
with or by (all one's) might and mainc1330
with (one's) forcec1380
like anything1665
hammer and tongs1708
like stour1787
(in) double tides1788
like blazes1818
like winking1827
with a will1827
like winky1830
like all possessed1833
in a big way1840
like (or worse than) sin1840
full swing1843
like a Trojan1846
like one o'clock1847
like sixty1848
like forty1852
like wildfire1857
like old boots1865
like blue murder1867
like steam1905
like stink1929
like one thing1938
like a demon1945
up a storm1953
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iii. iii. 53 You are three men of sinne. View more context for this quotation
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth I. x. 246 Though I am as ugly as sin, I would not have you think me an ass.
1827 W. Scott Chron. Canongate 1st Ser. I. iv. 60 They..bowed civilly if folk took aff their bannets as they gaed by, and lookit as black as sin at them that keepit them on.
1840 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker 3rd Ser. viii. 102 Who the plague can live on sugar-candy? I am sure I couldn't. Nothin' does for me like honey; arter a while I get to hate it like sin.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Vision of Sin in Poems (new ed.) II. 213 From the palace came a child of sin.
1868 ‘M. Twain’ Let. 8 Jan. (1917) I. 143 I have been working like sin all night to get a lecture written.
1929 W. Scott Mask i. 16 By the way, Father, dear—who is it that Peter Marlin hates worse than sin?
d. to live in sin: to cohabit outside marriage.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > types of marriage custom or practice > [verb (intransitive)] > cohabit
to live together1483
adhere1525
cohabitc1530
to live in sin1838
to live (on) tally1864
shack1935
1838 Ann. Rep. Bath City Mission in G. R. Taylor Angel-Makers (1958) 67 Front attic, two aged people living in sin.
1855 C. Kingsley Westward Ho! II. vii. 213 Why, not..to know whether..she's married to him or not..and I not to know whether she's living in sin or not, Mr. William.
1912 D. Wyllarde Career of Beauty Darling xvii ‘It's twelve shillings if ye are truly married,’..‘and fourteen if ye are living in sin!’
1925 A. P. Herbert Laughing Ann 92 Don't tell my mother I'm living in sin.
1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 1 Oct. 756/3 Lady Brabant..invites Niedermann, the composer, and Olga Nicolaï, the soprano, to stay with her..finds that they are ‘living in sin’, then cancels the invitation only to find that they have since been married.
1974 R. B. Parker Godwulf Manuscript vii. 56 A couple of freaky kids living in what my aunt used to call sin.
3. † b. A fear of doing wrong. Obsolete. rare.
a. A pity; a shame.Still in colloquial use, esp. in Scottish. See also Sc. National Dict.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > regret > [noun] > a matter for regret
scathec1300
sinc1300
pityc1325
damagec1385
spitec1400
pity?c1450
remorse1548
tragedy1873
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > disgrace or dishonour > [noun] > cause of disgrace > person or thing
sinc1300
shamea1586
bysen1805
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 1976 It is hof him mikel sinne; He maden him swilke woundes þrinne.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) v. l. 501 ‘To dede in Forth he may for vs be brocht.’ Lord Persye said, ‘Now suthlye that war syne’.
1831 C. Darwin Let. 6 Sept. in F. Darwin Life (1887) I. v. 207 He takes out twenty chronometers, and it will be a ‘sin’ not to settle the longitude.
ΚΠ
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 2375 Þat he ne sholde neuere blinne, Ne for loue, ne for sinne, Til þat he haueden Godard funde.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) viii. l. 518 To byrn and sla off thaim he had na syne.
Compounds
C1.
a. With past participles, chiefly in instrumental use, but sometimes denoting ‘in sin’ or ‘from sin’, as sin-absolved adj., sin-born adj., sin-burthened adj., sin-clouded adj., sin-crushed adj., sin-drowned adj., etc.Combinations of this type are extremely common from about 1590 to 1670, and again from about 1850.
ΚΠ
1563 B. Googe Eglogs Epytaphes & Sonettes sig. D.iiii With gredy mouth he alwayes feeds vpon the Syndrownd soule.
1594 T. Nashe Vnfortunate Traveller sig. Lv Farewell sinne sowed flesh.
1594 T. Nashe Vnfortunate Traveller sig. M4v This triple headed Pope with all his sin-absolued whoores.
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. v. 181 Christ, who, sinne-thrall'd man to free, Became a Captiue.
1648 J. Beaumont Psyche xiii. ccviii. 233 The Curse which Heav'n injoyn'd to grow On sin-condemned Earth.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 596 Whom thus the Sin-born Monster answerd soon. View more context for this quotation
1681 J. Flavell Method of Grace ix. 188 What joy must it then be to a sin-burthened soul, to hear the voice of pardon..?
1792 R. Cumberland Calvary (1803) II. 49 That sacred flesh, whose bleeding stripes Heal'd our sin-wounded souls.
1843 J. G. Whittier Human Sacrifice in Lays of Home 475 Oh! Never yet upon the scroll Of the sin-stained, but priceless soul, Hath Heaven inscribed ‘Despair!’
1849 J. C. Hare Serm. Preacht Herstmonceux Church II. 98 The inmost Desire of his own sin-crusht soul.
1868 J. H. Newman Verses Var. Occasions 253 While song is hushed..In the sin-laden air.
1882 H. S. Holland Logic & Life (1885) 187 The borders..of this sin-clouded sky.
1896 E. Dowson Let. May (1967) 363 Except that I want to see your classically sin-stained countenance, I should not even think of a week in Paris.
b. With present participles and verbal nouns in objective use, as sin-afflicting adj., †sin-beeting adj., sin-chastising adj., sin concealing adj., sin-doing adj., etc. Also instrumental, as sin-soiling adj. (see Compounds 1e).This type is common in the 17th and 19th centuries.
ΚΠ
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 121 Ich com to..understonden þo sinbetende on rihtwisnesse.
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 3 Not alonelie for hur syn-doyng..sho was sparred in a cloce cell iij yere.
1493 Festivall (1515) 148 They be in greete peryll that breke the feest..in synnedoynge.
1592 T. Nashe Pierce Penilesse (Brit. Libr. copy) sig. D4 Wise was that sin-washing Poet that made the Ballet of Blue starch and poaking stickes.
1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. F3 O comfort-killing night,..Vast sin-concealing Chaos. View more context for this quotation
1611 J. Davies Scourge Folly ccxviii Thy scourge of Vice, thy sinne-afflicting Muse.
1681 J. Flavell Method of Grace xxviii. 492 Earnest desires of our souls to God in prayer for..sin-mortifying grace.
1738 J. Wesley Coll. Psalms & Hymns (new ed.) lxxx. 20 The Sin-consuming Virtue.
a1758 J. Edwards Hist. Redempt. (1782) i. iv. 63 If they came to such a dreadful sin-revenging God immediately, they should die.
1819 P. B. Shelley Cenci iv. ii. 66 His death will be But as a change of sin-chastising dreams.
1860 E. B. Pusey Minor Prophets 18 Very beautiful to devils must be the sin-loving soul.
c. With agent-nouns, in objective use, as sin-absolver n., sin-discerner n., sin-forgiver n., etc.
ΚΠ
1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet iii. iii. 50 Being a Diuine, a ghostly Confessor, A sinne absoluer. View more context for this quotation
a1716 O. Blackall Wks. (1723) I. x. 88 One that makes Sin. We might render it a Sin-maker.
1839 J. Rogers Antipopopriestian xv. §1. 312 A huge, disciplined, active army:..not of sinopposers, but of slave~makers.
1849 J. A. Carlyle tr. Dante Inferno 48 That sin~discerner sees what place in Hell is for it.
1870 W. Graham Lect. Ephes. vi. 137 The character of the sin-forgiver should not degenerate into the sin-indulger.
d. With adjectives, as sin-black adj., sin-dark adj., sin-guilty adj., sin-like adj., sin-proud adj.
ΚΠ
1594 T. Nashe Terrors of Night in Wks. (Grosart) III. 220 The diuell keepeth his audit in our sin-guilty consciences.
1614 J. Sylvester Bethulia's Rescue 197 Thou couldst not cleanse These Sin-proud shining Halls.
1617 A. Newman Pleasures Vision 22 The stately Court,..whose sin-like hew Dazles the Eyes of euery Wight.
1812 P. B. Shelley Devil's Walk xxii Cormorants are sin-like lean, Although they eat from night to morn.
1855 P. J. Bailey Mystic 29 With sin-black hills engirthed.
a1915 J. Joyce Giacomo Joyce (1968) 10 She stands beside me, pale and chill, clothed with the shadows of the sindark nave.
e. With verbs, in the sense ‘by sin’, as sin-eclipse v., sin-merit v.
ΚΠ
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares f. 73v Our soules they keepe not from sinne-soyling, but are the onely instruments, so to soile and sinne-eclipse them.
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares f. 89v To make vs more wary of sinne-meriting it.
C2. General attributive.
sin-bane n.
ΚΠ
1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iii. 4 Sucking the Sin-bane of Assirian aire.
sin custom-house n.
ΚΠ
1673 Egane (title) The Book of Rates now used in the Sin Custom-House of the Church of Rome.
sin-entanglement n.
ΚΠ
1668 J. Owen Pract. Expos. 130th Psalm in Wks. (1851) VI. 381 I who am in the depths of sin-entanglements.
sin-gluttony n.
ΚΠ
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares f. 23 [To] kill the body & the soule both of her vnbounded sinne-gluttonie.
sin-guilt n.
ΚΠ
1645 S. Rutherford Tryal & Trivmph of Faith (1845) 227 He.., by a sin-guilt, hath transgressed a law.
sin-guiltiness n.
ΚΠ
1650 J. Trapp Clavis to Bible (Exod. xx. 17) 70 That the people might..bee admonished of their sin-guiltiness.
sin market n.
ΚΠ
1861 C. Reade Cloister & Hearth lxvii The pair were driving a bargain in the Sin market.
sin-miasma n.
ΚΠ
1850 T. T. Lynch Memorials Theophilus Trinal x. 201 The sin-miasma from the evil will of a man.
sin-mould n.
ΚΠ
1650 T. Hubbert Pilula 14 A form of godliness without the power of it, may well be called the devils Sin-Mould.
sin plague n.
ΚΠ
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Zech. xiv. 18 This shalbe the synneplage of Egipte and the synneplage of all people.
sin-sacrifice n.
ΚΠ
1624 T. Gataker Discuss. Transubstant. 202 Nor was there ever any sinne-sacrifice without blood-shead.
sin-score n.
ΚΠ
1824 R. Southey Sir Thomas More (1831) I. 327 The sin-score was settled with St. Kentigern in the regular way.
sin-spring n.
ΚΠ
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. i. 320 The farther this foule sinne-spring flowes It still more muddie and more filthie growes.
sin-siren n.
ΚΠ
1615 R. Brathwait Strappado 154 True, I was blind, when thy sin-Syren voice, Made me despise my selfe.
C3. Special combinations.† sin-boot n. Obsolete repentance, penance.† sin-money n. Obsolete money brought as an offering in expiation of sin.† sin-wood n. Obsolete mad with sin.
sin-bin n. slang (chiefly North American) = penalty box n. (a) at penalty n. Compounds 2 (a); also transferred.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > winter sports > ice hockey > [noun] > penalty box or bench
box1881
penalty bench1908
penalty box1914
sin-bin1950
1950 Amer. Speech 25 104/2 Sin bin, the penalty box where hockey players are sent for a few moments for infraction of rules, etc.
1958 Herald-Tribune (Grand Prairie, Alberta) 11 Mar. 5/3 [The] game saw 37 minutes spent in the sin-bin.
1973 Times 10 Dec. 8/2 This game showed that it would be worth while trying the ice-hockey system of on-the-spot discipline with a ‘sin-bin’ to allow players to cool down.
1982 Daily Tel. 25 Feb. 19/5 It often took several months for an infant who has created chaos to be removed to a special school or a ‘sin bin’.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > sacrament > confession > penitence > [noun]
reusingeOE
deedbotec1000
sin-bootc1175
penitencea1200
repentancec1300
penancea1325
compunctiona1340
repentingc1350
contritionc1386
repentaillec1390
remorse of conscience (also mind)c1410
penitencya1500
penitudea1538
penancy?1567
repent1573
metanoia1577
remorsefulnessa1617
synteresy1616
synderesis1639
synteresis1650
remordency1658
sermon-sicknessa1665
contriteness1692
penitentness1727
c1175 Lamb. Hom. 135 Alle weldede beoð freomfulle to sun-bote.
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 137 Ure drihten him bed fulcnen on watere to synbote.
sin bosun n. Naval slang a ship's chaplain.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > chaplain > [noun] > at sea
sky pilot1865
holy Joe1874
sin bosun1948
society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > seafaring warrior or naval man > leader or commander > officer with specific duty > [noun] > chaplain
sin bosun1948
1948 E. Partridge et al. Dict. Forces' Slang 170 Sin boson [sic], the, the Chaplain, R.N. (Lower-deck.)
1964 Navy News Dec. (H.M.S. Royal Arthur Suppl.) 1/2 Well, at least the Sin Bosun doesn't seem too old, and did you see him get all punchy during deck-hockey yesterday?
sin-buster n. U.S. slang an evangelist; a clergyman.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > [noun]
God's maneOE
priestOE
clerkc1050
secularc1290
vicary1303
minister1340
divinec1380
man of Godc1384
kirkmana1400
man of the churchc1400
cockc1405
Ecclesiastc1405
spiritual1441
ministrator1450
abbé1530
reverend1547
churchman1549
tippet-captain?1550
tippet knight1551
tippet man1551
public minister1564
reading minister1572
clergyman1577
clerk1577
padre1584
minstrel1586
spiritual1600
cleric1623
cassock1628
Levite1640
gownsman1641
teaching elder1642
ecclesiastic1651
religionist1651
crape1682
crape-gown-man1682
man in black1692
soul driver1699
secularist1716
autem jet1737
liturge1737
officiant1740
snub-devil1785
soul doctor1785
officiator1801
umfundisi1825
crape-man1826
clerical1837
God-man1842
Pfarrer1844
liturgist1848
white-choker1851
rook1859
shovel hat1859
sky pilot1865
ecclesiastical1883
joss-pidgin-man1886
josser1887
sin-shiftera1912
sin-buster1931
parch1944
1931 L. Cochran Flood Tides vi. 56 ‘The Reverend Billy Swinnerton is to conduct a revival here.’.. ‘Not that ole sin-buster?’
sin city n. slang a title applied jocularly or otherwise to a city considered to be a place of vice.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > [noun] > place of evil
swallowc1380
hella1450
sink1526
pump1531
Sodom?1550
Tophet1618
pandemonium1800
hell's kitchen1827
sin city1973
1973 Guardian 17 Oct. 15/3 Leicester people..saw Nottingham as a sort of sin city because people there went to the pub at night.
1975 ‘A. Thackeray’ One Way Ticket ii. 95 What's going to happen in Chicago?.. All you want to do is run amok in ‘Sin City’.
sin-eater n. one hired to take upon himself the sins of a deceased person by means of food eaten beside the dead body; so sin-eating.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > sin > atonement > [noun] > for another
sin-eatinga1697
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > sin > atonement > [noun] > for another > one who makes
scapegoat1530
satisfactory1562
sin-eatera1697
a1697 J. Aubrey Remaines Gentilisme & Judaisme (1881) 35 A Loafe of bread was brought out, and delivered to the Sinne-eater over the corps.
1832 W. Hone Year Bk. 19 July 858 An usage called sin-eating undoubtedly arose in catholic times.
1860 Murray's Handbk. S. Wales Introd. 26 The superstition of the Sin-Eater is said to linger even now in the secluded vale of Cwm Amman.
sin-flood n. [after German sündflut, an alteration of Old High German sin-vluot general flood] the Deluge.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > flood or flooding > [noun] > Biblical
Noah's floodOE
the floodOE
diluvya1325
delugec1386
diluvec1386
sin-flood1550
cataclysm1637
Noachian deluge1711
1550 M. Coverdale tr. O. Werdmueller Spyrytuall & Precyouse Pearle xxiv. sig. Jviijv Where as the whole worlde besyde were destroyed wyth the synne flood.
1892 J. Lucas tr. P. Kalm Acct. Visit Eng. 408 Whether all these strata came into their present shape at the sin-flood..I leave others to divine.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > sacrifice or a sacrifice > kinds of sacrifice > [noun] > for sin
boot971
piaclec1460
purgatory1563–4
piaculum1601
sin-money1611
piaculary1655
sin-rent1899
society > faith > worship > benefice > other financial matters > [noun] > church dues > for absolution
shrift-silver1402
sin-money1611
sin-rent1899
1611 Bible (King James) 2 Kings xii. 16 The trespasse money, and sinne-money was not brought into the house of the Lord. View more context for this quotation
sin-rent n. a payment made to obtain absolution for sins.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > sacrifice or a sacrifice > kinds of sacrifice > [noun] > for sin
boot971
piaclec1460
purgatory1563–4
piaculum1601
sin-money1611
piaculary1655
sin-rent1899
society > faith > worship > benefice > other financial matters > [noun] > church dues > for absolution
shrift-silver1402
sin-money1611
sin-rent1899
1899 G. M. Trevelyan Eng. Age Wycliffe 142 Wycliffe's position about pardons, sin-rents, and the abuse of the confessional.
sin-shifter n. slang a clergyman.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > [noun]
God's maneOE
priestOE
clerkc1050
secularc1290
vicary1303
minister1340
divinec1380
man of Godc1384
kirkmana1400
man of the churchc1400
cockc1405
Ecclesiastc1405
spiritual1441
ministrator1450
abbé1530
reverend1547
churchman1549
tippet-captain?1550
tippet knight1551
tippet man1551
public minister1564
reading minister1572
clergyman1577
clerk1577
padre1584
minstrel1586
spiritual1600
cleric1623
cassock1628
Levite1640
gownsman1641
teaching elder1642
ecclesiastic1651
religionist1651
crape1682
crape-gown-man1682
man in black1692
soul driver1699
secularist1716
autem jet1737
liturge1737
officiant1740
snub-devil1785
soul doctor1785
officiator1801
umfundisi1825
crape-man1826
clerical1837
God-man1842
Pfarrer1844
liturgist1848
white-choker1851
rook1859
shovel hat1859
sky pilot1865
ecclesiastical1883
joss-pidgin-man1886
josser1887
sin-shiftera1912
sin-buster1931
parch1944
a1912 ‘T. Collins’ Rigby's Romance (1946) 187 ‘Not a proper sin shifter,’ objected Dixon. ‘You can't chris'n a kid, nor yet say the (adj.) words over people.’
1919 W. H. Downing Digger Dial. 45 Sin-shifter, an army chaplain.
1966 ‘L. Lane’ ABZ of Scouse 98 Sin-shifter, a parson, priest, or rabbi.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [adjective] > other mental illness
sin-wooda1325
wanton sick1602
affective1858
theroid1867
fetishized1889
fetish1901
negativistic1902
pseudo-homosexual1908
involutional1910
regressive1911
lata1913
sadomasochistic1921
rejected1931
catathymic1934
acting-out1945
nemesistic1945
sadomasochist1945
acted-out1996
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > sin > [adjective] > very
sin-wooda1325
clumseda1340
obduratec1450
obdureda1500
unreclaimed1591
obfirmed1597
sooty1656
unreconciled1711
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1073 Ðat folc vn-seli, sinne wod,..Wulden him ðor gret strengðe don.
Draft additions March 2003
sin tax n. originally U.S. a tax levied on a substance or activity traditionally regarded as a luxury and (esp. when in excess) as sinful or frivolous, such as alcohol, tobacco, gambling, etc.
ΚΠ
1901 N.Y. Times 8 Dec. sm8 A society in Yonkers composed of young women fines its members 10 cents for each ungrammatical or slang expression used during social or other sessions. ‘My sin tax!’ said one young lady as she paid her fine.]
1957 N.Y. Times 7 Apr. 62 Much of New Hampshire's revenue comes from what former Gov. Sherman Adams first referred to as ‘sin taxes’. In addition to horse racing, they include liquor and tobacco.
1988 Atlantic Insight Jan. 44/1 Fag-suckers are among the most public-spirited of folk,..paying an enormous sin-tax to underwrite the pensions of those who will live to a healthy and sanctimonious old age.
1996 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 2 July 1/1 The State Government has deferred ‘sin tax’ increases..while it decides whether departmental spending can be slashed.
Draft additions September 2018
sin of Sodom: the sin associated with the biblical city of Sodom; sodomy. [So called with reference to Genesis 18–19 (see Sodom n.); compare the foreign-language parallels cited at sodomite adj.]
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > anal sex > [noun]
sodomyc1325
sin of Sodom1340
sodomitec1350
sodomitry1531
buggery1533
sodding1868
anal intercourse1886
anal1943
cornholing1955
brown eye1967
anal sex1970
cornhole1970
butt-fucking1974
bumming2001
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 206 Þet wes þe zenne of sodome, þet prede, ydelnesse, and plente, þet is to zigge, þet hi ethen and uorzuolȝe and naȝt ne dede, huer-by hy uillen in-to þe uoule zenne þet naȝt ne is to nemni.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) l. 2133 Þis Membrice he wex vnkynde..& haunted þe syn of Sodom, & vnkyndly to bestis com.
a1500 (?c1378) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 442 (MED) Lord, siþ þe synne of sodom cryede to god for greet veniaunse, hou shal þis synne þat lettiþ þis gendrure crye to god to be a-vengid?
1534 G. Joye tr. Jeremy Prophete iiii. f. cviii And ye synne of ye daughter of my peple is reputed greter then the synne of Sodome.
1657 A. G. Legis Fluvius 83 That detestable and abominable sin of Sodom (not to be named among Christians) called Buggery.
1712 W. Whiston Primitive Christianity Reviv'd II. iv. For the Sin of Sodom is contrary to Nature, as is also that with Bruit-Beasts.
1836 W. Penketh River's Man. 132 Sin against nature is a carnal act of man with man, or woman with woman, or else between man and woman,..which is called the sin of Sodom.
1970 R. Davies Fifth Business (1977) v. i. 196 ‘You're queer.’ ‘The Sin of Sodom, you mean?’. ‘No, no, no!.. I mean queer—strange, funny, not like other people.’
2006 R. H. Allen Classical Origins Mod. Homophobia 3 Preachers, their faces red with passion and dripping sweat, paced about the pulpits ranting about the sin of Sodom.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
sinv.
/sɪn/, U.S. /sɪn/ 1.
a. intransitive. To commit sin; to do a sinful act.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > sin > [verb]
sinc825
misthinka1225
misfeelc1225
mislikec1225
mislookc1225
society > morality > moral evil > wrong conduct > evildoing or wrongdoing > do evil or wrong [verb (intransitive)] > transgress or offend
guiltc825
sinc825
to break a bruchec1225
trespass1303
forfeita1325
folly1357
misworka1375
transverse1377
offendc1384
mistakec1390
faulta1400
commit1449
misprize1485
transgress1526
digress1541
misdeal1573
to commit (also do, make) an offence1841
overstep1931
α.
β. c1175 Lamb. Hom. 19 Ȝif we suneged, we hit sculen beote.c1250 Owl & Night. 928 Ich wisse men myd myne songe, Þat hi ne sunegi nowiht longe.c1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 44/336 Þe menbre þov most keruen of ȝware-withþ þou i-sunegut hast.c1340 Nominale (Skeat) 384 Homme suette et pecche, M[an] wischith and senegith.1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. xv. 112 He þat knoweþ cleregie can sonnere a-ryse Out of synne, and be saf þow he synegy ofte.γ. c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 3970 Þatt illke mann ne sinnȝheþþ nohht.12.. Prayer our Lady 29 in Old Eng. Misc. 193 Ifurn ich habbe isuneȝet mid wurken & midd muðe.c1310 St. Edmund 450 in Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 83 If y ne wende synewi dedliche, y nolde neuere hit do.1315 Shoreham vii. 874 Þo man senneȝed in paradys, Al chaungede þat flesch a-mys.1340 Ayenbite (1866) 20 Ine þri maneris me may zeneȝi be þise zenne.1340 Ayenbite (1866) 21 Þou sselt ysi þet þou hest more ziþe y-zeneȝd..þet þou ne kanst naȝt telle.1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. xxiii. 15 Soþeliche he syneweþ nat þat so wynneþ hus fode.δ. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1876) VI. 47 We haveþ i-synned [MS. γ ysynwed] grevously.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 7955 ‘Sinned i haf,’ coth dauid þan.?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) ii. l. 8305 Adam first gan synne, did þat god forbede.1426 J. Audelay XI Pains of Hell 21 Hengyng..Sum be þe membirs of here body, Þat þai han sunnyd with in herthe leuand.a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 194 He syneth not, but whoso asketh I-styrryd with concupiscens..senneth venialy.1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 718/2 I have synned in glotonny to night, I have stolne a horse.1569 J. Rogers Glasse Godly Love 186 Wee dailie and hourely continually sinne.a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) ii. ii. 169 The Tempter, or the Tempted, who sins most? View more context for this quotation1688 J. Dryden Britannia Rediviva 11 Thus Israel Sin'd, impenitently hard.1714 R. Fiddes Pract. Disc. (ed. 2) II. 237 A man may..deceive him~self, and sin on with the hopes of an after-repentance.1825 E. Bulwer-Lytton Falkland 119 Do not tell me that I sin, when I..nurse the delirium [etc.].1859 Ld. Tennyson Merlin & Vivien 610 in Idylls of King That he sinn'd is not believable.c825 Vesp. Ps. iv. 5 Eorsiað & nyllað syngian.
c897 K. Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care xvii. 109 Is ðearf ðæt hie gedon..ðæt hie ne durren syngian.
c1000 Ælfric Numbers xxii. 34 Balaam cwæð, Ic singie nitende.
a1200 Moral Ode 258 Þer inne boð..þo þe sungede muchel a drunke and an ete.
?c1225 Ancrene Riwle (Cleo.: Scribe B) (1972) 308 (note) Ancren summe sungið in ha[re] wim[p]lunge na lesse þene lefd[is].
13.. Marina 119 in Böddeker Altengl. Dicht. (1878) 260 Ich habbe ysunged, merci y crie.
c1320 Cast. Love 1381 Þorw Adam we sungeden furst vchon.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 172 God sag bi-fore quat after cam, Ðat singen sulde firme adam.
1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. viii. 165 Þat..preyers don sauen Soules þat han sunget [MS. T ysynned] seuen siþes dedlich.
1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. i. 109 Hure syre sauh hem syngen and soffrede hem don ille.
1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. xi. 213 After þat adam and eue hadden ysynged.
b. Const. against (†in, to, with, etc.).
ΚΠ
c825 Vesp. Psalter cxviii. 11 In heortan minre ic ahydde gespreocu ðin, ðæt ic ne syngie ðe [L. tibi].
c893 tr. Orosius Hist. vi. x. 264 Þa sæde him hiora an..þæt he..miclum on þæm syngade.
c1000 West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xviii. 15 Gyf þin broþor syngað wið þe.
c1380 J. Wyclif Wks. (1880) 313 Ȝif þin brother synneþ in þee, þou shalt snybbe hym.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 2986 Fra touche of hir i saued þe, þat þu suld noght sinne in me.
1414 T. Brampton Paraphr. Seven Penit. Psalms (1842) 22 I have synned to the alone, And forfetyd ofte before thi syȝt.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Gen. xxxix. B How shulde I then do so greate euell, and synne agaynst God?
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear ix. 60 I am a man more sind against their sinning. View more context for this quotation
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxix. 169 He that is subject to no Civill Law, sinneth in all he does against his Conscience.
1733 A. Pope Ess. Man i. 134 Who but wishes to invert the Laws Of Order, sins against th' Eternal Cause.
1772 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra II. lxviii. 310 Your conscience already tells you, that you have sinned against knowledge.
1853 R. C. Trench Notes Parables (ed. 5) xxiv. 408 Strictly speaking, we can sin only against God.
1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda II. iv. xxxii. 306 I think I have never sinned against her.
c. spec. To commit fornication or adultery with (or †on) one.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > fornication, adultery, or incest > commit fornication, adultery, or incest [verb (intransitive)] > commit fornication or adultery
sin?c1225
commit1449
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 46 Bersabee..make him sunegen on hire swa hali as he wes.
c1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 262/46 To alle þat with hire sunegy wolde euere redi heo was.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1874) V. 143 Ȝif I seie eny of ȝoure ordre synne wiþ a womman, I wolde helye hym wiþ myn mantel.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 26261 Þou prest take kepe þou synne noȝt wiþ þine awen shepe.
c1440 Gesta Romanorum (Add. MS.) 140 Whan he hadde synned with her, he had her more in hate than he before loved her.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 719/1 All sortes of lecherye be naught, but specially to synne with a wedded woman.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Elaine in Idylls of King 160 Another sinning on such heights with one, The flower of all the west and all the world, Had been the sleeker for it.
d. To offend against some principle, standard, etc.; to be faulty or wrong.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > wrong conduct > evildoing or wrongdoing > do evil or wrong [verb (intransitive)] > transgress or offend > offend against something
aguiltOE
lackc1400
sina1704
a1704 T. Brown Ess. Late Politicks in 4th Vol. Wks. (1711) 99 This Government..sins against the Spirit of the Revolution.
1823 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto VI lii. 27 The most regulated charms of feature, Which painters cannot catch like faces sinning Against proportion.
1861 Ld. Brougham Brit. Constit. (ed. 2) v. 74 Our English system sins against all these canons, and sins grievously.
1888 Nation (N.Y.) 6 Dec. 464/2 Quite cleverly painted, and sinning chiefly by excessive prettiness.
2. transitive.1682 T. Southerne Loyal Brother iv. ii Gifted rogues, That..Sin or unsin rebellion to the crowd.1823 W. M. Praed Troubadour i. 80 He sinned few crimes, loved many times.1860 N. Hawthorne Marble Faun I. xi. 122 While there remains so much to be sinned and suffered in the world.1879 J. Hawthorne Laughing Mill 81 In the end the sin was sinned.
a. To do, perform, or perpetrate sinfully; to commit (a sin).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > sinfulness > [verb (transitive)]
sinc1315
society > morality > moral evil > wrong conduct > evildoing or wrongdoing > do wrongfully or amiss [verb (transitive)]
aguiltOE
misdoOE
misworkc1300
sinc1315
usec1330
erra1340
trespass14..
c1315 Shoreham i. 136 Al þat he heþ iseneged her..Eliinge brengeþ hit to nouȝte.
b. to sin one's mercies, to be ungrateful for one's blessings or good fortune.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > gratitude > ingratitude > be ungrateful [verb (intransitive)]
gift horse1546
to sin one's mercies1824
1824 W. Scott Redgauntlet I. i. 12 I know your good father would term this Sinning my mercies.
1849 M. Oliphant Margaret Maitland I. viii. 244 Surely, Mr. Allan,..it would be sinning your mercies.
1891 Sat. Rev. 14 Mar. 328/1 Without wishing in any way to sin our mercies.
c. to sin one's soul, to incur the guilt of sin. dialect.
ΚΠ
1894– in Eng. Dial. Dict.
3. With prepositions and adverbs.
a. To bring (oneself) into a state, or beyond something, by sinning.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > sin > [verb] > make
sin1665
1665 I. Walton Life of Hooker 37 These had sinned them~selves into a belief that there was no God.
1679 R. South Serm. Several Occasions 297 Few Consider what a Degree of Sottishness and Confirmed Ignorance men may sin themselves into.
1680 C. Ness Compl. Church-hist. 191 They had sinned themselves beyond the reach of all remedies.
b. To drive or force away (also hence) by sinning.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > sin > [verb] > remove by
sin1684
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > causing to go away > command to go away [verb (transitive)] > drive away > by sinning
sin1684
1684 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 2nd Pt. 7 I have sinned away your Father, and he is gone. View more context for this quotation
1688 J. Dryden Britannia Rediviva 12 For we have sin'd him hence.
1694 Providences of God 84 The Lord grant we may not sin away our Mercies.
1860 E. B. Pusey Minor Prophets 207 Souls which have sinned away the grace of God and are beyond its reach.
c. (See quots.)
ΚΠ
1652 R. Loveday tr. G. de Costes de La Calprenède Hymen's Præludia: 1st Pt. Ded. sig. A 2 At such times as your silent Authority gave me leave to want better imployment, this trifle was Sinn'd into English [from French].
1777 J. W. Fletcher Bible-Calvinism 2 in Bible-Arminianism The basest and vilest of men who have not yet sinned out their day of salvation.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
sinadv.prep.conj.
/sɪn/, U.S. /sɪn/, Scottish English /sɪn/ Now Scottish and northern dialect.
A. adv.
1. Then, thereupon; thereafter, afterwards, subsequently.Frequent in Caxton.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > succession or following in time > [adverb] > next in order or then
then971
sitha1300
sinc1330
afterward1340
here-nexta1400
synea1450
juxt1614
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 290 Alwey on dragon hem kepte; Syn were þey stolen þe while he slepte.
c1400 (?c1380) Patience l. 218 Haþeles hyȝed in haste with ores ful longe, Syn her sayl was hem aslypped on sydez to rowe.
?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) I. lf. 45v He hath putte hym self in armes wyth oute my knowleche, And syn sendeth for me.
1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) ii. 64 Theyr moder..ranne for to kysse theym..and sin asked what thei had doon of theyr fader.
c1500 Melusine (1895) 245 He toke by force of armes the Erle of Fyerbourgh and syn passed in Austeryche.
2. From that time onwards.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > [adverb] > thereafter or after that
thoc700
thenforthc875
thereafterc897
fro ðan ðatc1175
thethenforthc1175
thenforthwardc1200
thereup?c1225
from?a1366
thencec1374
thenceforthc1374
fromwardc1400
thyne-forwardc1400
sin1405
thyne-forthc1440
thenceforward1457
sinsyne1470
thenafter1470
then afterwarda1485
upon?1523
sineth1542
thence-after1593
thenceforwards1684
thereafterward1867
1405 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 178 He hathe ocupyde the lond evyr syn.
1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope v. x Yf euylle is syn happed to me it is wel bestowed.
1485 Rolls of Parl. VI. 339/1 The first day of this present Parlement or at any tyme syn.
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) (at cited word) I sa him last Jamsmas and I hennot sin him sin.
1886 R. E. G. Cole Gloss. Words S.-W. Lincs. 131 He's never addled owt sin.
3. Ago; before now. Also long sin, for a long time before (quot. 1596).
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the past > [adverb] > ago
agoc1350
sitha1375
hencea1382
sithena1400
agone1420
sin1490
sithence1537
since1555
syne1573
ygo1579
aback1768
back1797
pass1971
the world > time > relative time > the past > antecedence or being earlier > [adverb] > long before
long sin1490
1490 W. Caxton tr. Eneydos xii. 44 The bodyes longe syn destroyed & conuerted in-to poulder.
?1515 Hyckescorner (de Worde) sig. B.iii Deuocyon is gone many dayes syn.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene vi. xi. sig. Ii5v Knowing his voice although not heard long sin, She sudden was reuiued therewithall. View more context for this quotation
1796 R. Walker Plebian Pol. (1801) 32 Boh this war ov eawars wud hah bin ore monyoah yeor sun.
1869 J. C. Atkinson Peacock's Gloss. Dial. Hundred of Lonsdale 74/2 It's a gud lang time sin.
1886 R. E. G. Cole Gloss. Words S.-W. Lincs. 78 I heard the bell knoll a piece sin.
B. prep.
From, after; subsequent to.
ΚΠ
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 13651 Ne it i-wiss was neuer herd Sin þe biginning o þe werld.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 5670 Sin quen was þou vr dempster?
1455 in W. B. Scoones Four Cent. Eng. Lett. (1880) 5 The King is wel amended,..and hath ben syn Cristemes~day.
1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) ix. 225 Never sin that tyme was no kyng crowned in gascoyn.
c1500 Melusine (1895) 102 My lady syn your departyng hath doo made..this toun.
1788 W. Marshall Provincialisms E. Yorks. in Rural Econ. Yorks. II. 352 I have not seen him sin Tuesday.
1817 W. Scott Rob Roy II. vi. 116 Things were strangely changed..sin' the sad and sorrowfu' Union.
1886 in R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester
C. conj.
1. From or since the time that. †Also rarely with that.
ΚΠ
c1385 G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Fairf.) Prol. 229 The fresshest syn the worlde was first bygonne.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Coll. Phys.) l. 22192 A soru suilc was neuir are, Sin man was made..And sine þe werde it firste bigan.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 9323 For sin þat we war born in werld Sua selcut sagh we neuer herd.
1405 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 178 He owyth my mastyr ffor the londe that the sayd Roper had syn he deyde ffor hys wyffe.
c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) lxi. 212 Shew me where ye haue ben syn I saw you.
a1550 in R. Dyboski Songs, Carols & Other Misc. Poems (1908) 52 Owr kynde ys frayle,..& ever hath bene syne we knew vs.
1557 Dialoge of Comfort (new ed.) ii. vi, in Wks. Sir T. More 1192/2 It neuer hath had any sample lyke, sinne the world began vnto now.
1787 R. Burns Death & Dr. Hornbook xii, in Poems (new ed.) 59 It's e'en a lang, lang time indeed Sin' I began to nick the thread.
1859 ‘G. Eliot’ Adam Bede I. i. iv. 76 Adam's niver touched a bit o' victual sin' home he's come.
2. † b. So sin that. Obsolete.
a. Seeing or considering that.
ΚΠ
c1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience 946 God war worthy mare to be lufed þan any creature,..Syn he es maker of althynge.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 11212 Sin godd wald þat it sua suld be.
c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 28 Syn al power is of God,..man may do no þing, but if he ȝeue him þe miȝt.
1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope xvi Syn I hold the now, thou shalt not scape fro me.
c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) lxi. 211 I care not whether I lyue or dye syn I haue founde you.
1724 A. Ramsay Tea-table Misc. (1733) I. 8 Now, woer, sin ye are lighted down Where do ye win.
1818 J. Hogg Brownie of Bodsbeck I. 46 I wish ye had suffered under ony hand but mine, sin' it be your lot.
1877 F. Ross et al. Gloss. Words Holderness 126/1.
ΚΠ
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 3167 Quar sal we take a beste þis sacrifise to make. syn þat we haue broȝt nane.
c1400 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Cambr. Dd.3.53) (1872) ii. §4. 18 Me semeth conuenient, sin þat I speke of the assendent, to make of it special declaracioun.
1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) ii. iv. 44 Syn that a knyght is capitayn of a batayll the lyf of them..lyeth in his hand.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.c825
v.c825adv.prep.conj.c1330