The Collaborative International Dictionary
Sin \Sin\, n. [OE. sinne, AS. synn, syn; akin to D. zonde, OS. sundia, OHG. sunta, G. s["u]nde, Icel., Dan. & Sw. synd, L. sons, sontis, guilty, perhaps originally from the p. pr. of the verb signifying, to be, and meaning, the one who it is. Cf. Authentic, Sooth.]
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Transgression of the law of God; disobedience of the divine command; any violation of God's will, either in purpose or conduct; moral deficiency in the character; iniquity; as, sins of omission and sins of commission.
Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
--John viii. 34.Sin is the transgression of the law.
--1 John iii. 4.I think 't no sin. To cozen him that would unjustly win.
--Shak.Enthralled By sin to foul, exorbitant desires.
--Milton. -
An offense, in general; a violation of propriety; a misdemeanor; as, a sin against good manners.
I grant that poetry's a crying sin.
--Pope. -
A sin offering; a sacrifice for sin.
He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin.
--2 Cor. v. 21. -
An embodiment of sin; a very wicked person. [R.]
Thy ambition, Thou scarlet sin, robbed this bewailing land Of noble Buckingham.
--Shak.Note: Sin is used in the formation of some compound words of obvious signification; as, sin-born; sin-bred, sin-oppressed, sin-polluted, and the like.
Actual sin, Canonical sins, Original sin, Venial sin. See under Actual, Canonical, etc.
Deadly sins, or Mortal sins (R. C. Ch.), willful and deliberate transgressions, which take away divine grace; -- in distinction from vental sins. The seven deadly sins are pride, covetousness, lust, wrath, gluttony, envy, and sloth.
Sin eater, a man who (according to a former practice in England) for a small gratuity ate a piece of bread laid on the chest of a dead person, whereby he was supposed to have taken the sins of the dead person upon himself.
Sin offering, a sacrifice for sin; something offered as an expiation for sin.
Syn: Iniquity; wickedness; wrong. See Crime.
Wiktionary
n. A person (usually a man) who is supposed to take sins of a deceased person upon himself by means of eating a piece of bread, laid for him on the breast of the dead one.
Usage examples of "sin eater".
Instead of pulling a Sin Eater, the Mag had pulled the trans-comm unit, shoved it in his hands and told him he was free to go.
As the mud under his feet became softer, he slid the Sin Eater back into its holster and reached down to the nylex handle of the combat knife in its boot scabbard.
A grin tugged at the corners of his mouth when he recognized the report of a Sin Eater.
Kane stayed where he was, his arms folded over his chest, his finger hovering over the trigger stud of his Sin Eater.
She handed Grant the Sin Eater, and he hefted it briefly, then held it up toward Kane.
He surveyed their angular, uncompromising faces, all of them fearsomely painted, and he reflex-ively tensed his wrist tendons, preparing Ms hand to receive the Sin Eater.
I am, as you know, of partly Celtic ancestry, and I have for many years been fascinated by the institution of the Sin Eater, once so popular in Wales and its border country.
In a way, people like me are the modern equivalent of the old Welsh sin eater, the wandering bard who would be called to the house when somebody was on his deathbed.
There were knives with old bloodstains on the steel blades, guns of different makes, his Sin Eater and Copperhead from his years as a Mag.