Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Crime in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels crime as noun. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913noun
Crime

[F. crime, fr. L. crimen judicial decision, that which is subjected to such a decision, charge, fault, crime, fr. the root of cernere to decide judicially. See Certain.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordcrime
Part of speechnoun
Historical etymology[F. crime, fr. L. crimen judicial decision, that which is subjected to such a decision, charge, fault, crime, fr. the root of cernere to decide judicially. See Certain.]
Selected historical definitionAny violation of law, either divine or human; an omission of a duty commanded, or the commission of an act forbidden by law.
Signed record IDwebster1913-crime-noun-89a174150a6a
Source locatorCIDE.C, paragraph 20768; Gutenberg eBook 661
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 661Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "crime" is labeled noun. Its etymology is recorded as: "[F. crime, fr. L. crimen judicial decision, that which is subjected to such a decision, charge, fault, crime, fr. the root of cernere to decide judicially. See Certain.]" The selected historical definition says: "Any violation of law, either divine or human; an omission of a duty commanded, or the commission of an act forbidden by law."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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