/ sɪn; NAmE / noun , verb , abbreviation
■ noun
1.
[ C ] an offence against God or against a religious or moral law :
to commit a sin
Confess your sins to God and he will forgive you.
The Bible says that stealing is a sin.
—see also mortal sin , original sin
2.
[ U ] the act of breaking a religious or moral law :
a life of sin
3.
[ C , usually sing. ] ( informal ) an action that people strongly disapprove of :
It's a sin to waste taxpayers' money like that.
—see also sinful , sinner
•
IDIOMS
- be / do sth for your sins
- (as) miserable / ugly as sin
—more at multitude , live (I)
■ verb
( -nn- ) [ v ] to break a religious or moral law :
Forgive me, Lord, for I have sinned.
He was more sinned against than sinning (= although he did wrong, other people treated him even worse) .
■ abbreviation
( mathematics ) sine
••
WORD ORIGIN
verb and noun Old English synn (noun), syngian (verb); probably related to Latin sons , sont- guilty.