crime

English

Etymology

From Middle English cryme, crime, from Old French crime, crimne, from Latin crīmen. Displaced native Old English firen.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /kɹaɪm/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪm

Noun

crime (countable and uncountable, plural crimes)

1. (countable) A specific act committed in violation of the law, especially criminal law.
   • 2024 October 23, Tricia Escobedo, “AI-generated crimes, a treasure mystery, quick thinking by bus passengers: Catch up on the day’s stories”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     The generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT, can be duped into providing detailed advice on how to commit crimes — ranging from money laundering to the export of weapons to sanctioned countries — a tech startup found.

2. (countable) Any great sin or wickedness; iniquity.
   • 1687 (date written), Alexander Pope, “Ode for Musick on St. Cecilia’s Day”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], →OCLC, canto VI, page 376:

     No crime was thine, if 'tis no crime to love.

3. (countable, obsolete) That which occasions crime.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 46:

     the tree of life, the crime of our first father's fall

4. (uncountable) Criminal acts collectively.

   Synonyms: criminality, delinquency

   • 2025 March 19, Hira Humayun and Michael Rios, “Ecuador’s president invites foreign armies to fight gangs in the country”, in CNN‎^[2]:

     The State Department has given Ecuador $81 million since 2018 to help the country with its fight against organized crime and narcotics.

5. (uncountable) The habit or practice of committing crimes.

   Crime doesn’t pay.

Hyponyms

• crime against humanity
• crime against nature
• crime of passion
• criminal act
• felony
• hate crime
• high crime
• international crime
• misdemeanor, misdemeanour
• organised crime, organized crime
• petty crime
• postcrime
• regulatory offence
• sex crime
• sexual offence
• summary crime
• time crime
• war crime
• white collar crime

Derived terms

• aftercrime
• anticrime
• autocrime
• biocrime
• capital crime
• consensual crime
• crimance
• crime buster
• crime-buster
• crimebuster
• crimebusting
• crime car
• crime doesn't pay
• crime-fighter
• crimefighter
• crime fighter
• crimefighting
• crime-free, crimefree
• crimeful
• crime index
• crimeless
• crimelike
• crime lord
• crime mapping
• crime passionel
• crimeproof
• crime rate
• crime-ridden, crimeridden
• crime scene
• crime science
• crime scientist
• crime sheet
• crimestopper
• crimethink
• crimeware
• crime wave
• crimewave
• crimie
• criminal
• criminal law
• criminally
• criminal record
• criminological
• criminologically
• criminologist
• criminology
• crimo
• crimogenic
• cybercrime
• decrime
• decriminalisation, decriminalization
• decriminalise, decriminalize
• e-crime
• envirocrime
• enviro-crime
• facecrime
• hate-crime
• he who said the rhyme did the crime
• impediment of crime
• knifecrime
• knife crime
• no-crime
• no crime
• noncrime
• noncriminal
• organizational crime
• partner in crime
• perfect crime
• pre-crime
• precrime
• recriminalisation, recriminalization
• recriminalise, recriminalize
• stranger crime
• street crime
• thoughtcrime
• tough on crime
• true crime
• uncrime
• victimless crime
• white-collar crime
• youth crime

Collocations

Collocations

• organized crime
• brutal crime
• terrible crime
• horrible crime
• heinous crime
• horrendous crime
• hideous crime
• financial crime
• sexual crime
• international crime

Translations

specific act committed in violation of the law

• Afrikaans: misdryf, misdaad (af)
• Albanian: krim (sq) m
• Amharic: ወንጀል (wänǧäl)
• Arabic: جَرِيمَة (ar) f (jarīma), جِنَايَة (ar) f (jināya)
• Aragonese: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: հանցանք (hy) (hancʻankʻ), հանցագործություն (hy) (hancʻagorcutʻyun)
• Aromanian: please add this translation if you can
• Assamese: অপৰাধ (oporadh)
• Asturian: delitu m
• Azerbaijani: cinayət (az)
• Bashkir: енәйәт (yenəyət)
• Basque: delitua
• Belarusian: злачы́нства n (zlačýnstva), злачы́н m (zlačýn)
• Bengali: অপরাধ (bn) (oporadh)
• Breton: torfed (br) m
• Bulgarian: престъпле́ние (bg) n (prestǎplénie)
• Burmese: ပြစ်မှု (my) (prachmu.)
• Catalan: crim (ca) m, delicte (ca) m, delinquir (ca) (literally “to commit a crime”) (verb phrase)
• Cherokee: ᎠᏍᎦᏅᏨ (asganvtsv)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 罪 (zh) (zuì), 罪行 (zh) (zuìxíng), 刑事犯罪 (xíngshì fànzuì), 犯罪 (zh) (fànzuì)

• Cornish: drogober m, galweyth m, hager ober m
• Corsican: please add this translation if you can
• Czech: zločin (cs) m, trestný čin (cs) m
• Danish: forbrydelse (da) c
• Dutch: misdaad (nl) f
• Esperanto: krimo
• Estonian: kuritegu (et)
• Faroese: brotsgerð f
• Finnish: rikos (fi)
• French: délit (fr) m(max 10 years imprisonment according to law) crime (fr) m (15 years and more) (nothing strictly between 10 and 15), délinquer (fr) (literally “to commit a crime”) (verb phrase)
• Friulian: criminâl m
• Galician: delito (gl) m, malfeito m
• Georgian: დანაშაული (današauli)
• German: Straftat (de) f
• Greek: έγκλημα (el) n (égklima), αδίκημα (el) n (adíkima) (law)
• Gujarati: અપરાધ n (aparādh)
• Hausa: please add this translation if you can
• Hawaiian: kalaima
• Hebrew: פֶּשַׁע (he) m (pésha'), עֲבֵרָה (he) f ('averá)
• Higaonon: sala
• Hindi: अपराध (hi) m (aprādh), जुर्म (hi) m (jurm)
• Hungarian: bűntény (hu), bűntett (hu), bűncselekmény (hu)
• Icelandic: glæpur (is) m
• Ido: krimino (io)
• Igbo: ihe ojoo
• Indonesian: kejahatan (id), pelanggaran (id), pelanggaran hukum
• Interlingua: crimine
• Irish: coir (ga) f, cion m
• Italian: crimine (it) m, delitto (it) m, reato (it) m, delinquere (it) (literally “to commit a crime”) (verb phrase)
• Japanese: 犯罪 (ja) (はんざい, hanzai), 罪 (ja) (つみ, tsumi), 犯行 (ja) (はんこう, hankō)
• Javanese: angkara
• Kannada: ಅಪರಾಧ (kn) (aparādha), ತಕ್ಸೀರು (kn) (taksīru)
• Kazakh: қылмыс (qylmys)
• Khmer: បទឧក្រិដ្ឋ (bɑt ʼokkrət), ទោស (km) (tooh)
• Korean: 범죄(犯罪) (ko) (beomjoe), 죄(罪) (ko) (joe), 범행(犯行) (ko) (beomhaeng)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: sûc (ku), cînayet (ku), tawan (ku)

• Kyrgyz: кылмыш (ky) (kılmış)
• Ladin: reat m
• Lao: ອາດຊະຍາກຳ (ʼāt sa nyā kam), ກຳມະໂທດ (kam ma thōt)
• Latin: scelus (la) n, facinus n, maleficium n
• Latvian: noziegšanās m, noziegums m
• Lithuanian: nusikaltimas (lt) m, nusižengimas m
• Luxembourgish: Verbriechen
• Macedonian: злосторство n (zlostorstvo), злодело n (zlodelo), недело m (nedelo)
• Malay: jenayah (ms)
• Malayalam: കുറ്റം (ml) (kuṟṟaṁ), കുറ്റകൃത്യം (kuṟṟakr̥tyaṁ)
• Maltese: reat
• Manx: loght m
• Maori: hara, māhie, taihara
• Marathi: बदकर्म m (badkarma)
• Mirandese: please add this translation if you can
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: гэмт хэрэг (mn) (gemt xereg)

  Mongolian: ᠭᠡᠮᠲᠦ
  ᠬᠡᠷᠡᠭ (gemtü kereg)

• Nepali: अपराध (ne) (aparādh)
• Norman: crînme m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forbrytelse (no) m

• Occitan: delicte (oc) m, crim (oc) m
• Odia: ଅପରାଧ (aparādha)
• Old English: firen f
• Oromo: yakka
• Ottoman Turkish: صوچ (suç)
• Pannonian Rusyn: злодїйство n (zlodjijstvo), криминал m (kriminal)
• Pashto: جنايت (ps) m (jenāyat)
• Persian:

  Dari: جُرْم (jurm), جِنَایَت (jināyat), گُنَاه (gunāh)

  Iranian Persian: جُرْم (jorm), بِزِه (beze), جِنایَت (jenâyat)

• Plautdietsch: Vebräakjen n
• Polish: przestępstwo (pl) n, zbrodnia (pl) f
• Portuguese: crime (pt) m, delinquir (pt) (literally “to commit a crime”) (verb phrase)
• Punjabi: ਜੁਰਮ (pa) (juram), ਅਪਰਾਧ (pa) (aparādh)
• Romanian: infracțiune (ro), crimă (ro) f, fapt penal (ro) n
• Romansch: crim m
• Russian: преступле́ние (ru) n (prestuplénije), злодея́ние (ru) n (zlodejánije), злоде́йство (ru) n (zlodéjstvo)
• Sanskrit: अकृत्य (sa) n (akṛtya), एनस् (sa) n (enas)
• Sardinian: please add this translation if you can
• Scots: crime, wrang-daein
• Scottish Gaelic: eucoir f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: зло̀чин m

  Roman: zlòčin (sh) m

• Sicilian: please add this translation if you can
• Sindhi: please add this translation if you can
• Sinhalese: අපරාධය (si) (aparādhaya)
• Slovak: zločin m
• Slovene: zločin (sl) m
• Somali: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: delito (es) m, crimen (es) m, delinquir (es) (literally “to commit a crime”) (verb phrase)
• Swahili: uhalifu (sw) class u, jinai (sw) class ma
• Swedish: brott (sv) n
• Tagalog: krimen
• Tajik: ҷиноят (jinoyat), ҷурм (jurm)
• Tamil: குற்றம் (ta) (kuṟṟam)
• Tatar: җинаять (tt) (cinayat’)
• Telugu: నేరము (te) (nēramu)
• Thai: อาชญากรรม (th) (àat-yaa-gam)
• Tibetan: ཉེས་པ (nyes pa)
• Tigrinya: ወንጀል (wänǧäl), ገበን (gäbän)
• Turkish: suç (tr), cinayet (tr)
• Turkmen: jenaýat (tk)
• Tuvan: кем-херек (kem-xerek)
• Ukrainian: зло́чин (uk) m (zlóčyn)
• Urdu: جُرْم m (jurm), اَپْرادھ m (aprādh), جِنایَت f (jināyat)
• Uyghur: جىنايەت (jinayet)
• Uzbek: jinoyat (uz)
• Vietnamese: tội ác (vi) (罪惡), tội phạm (vi) (罪犯)
• Volapük: klim
• Walloon: crime (wa) m
• Welsh: trosedd (cy) m
• West Frisian: misdied
• White Hmong: txhaum
• Wolof: please add this translation if you can
• Xhosa: please add this translation if you can
• Yiddish: פֿאַרברעך n (farbrekh), פֿאַרברעכן n (farbrekhn)
• Yoruba: ọ̀ràn
• Zazaki: cırm, cınayet
• Zulu: iseleleso

practice or habit of committing crimes

• Arabic: جَرِيمَة (ar) f (jarīma)
• Armenian: հանցավորություն (hy) (hancʻavorutʻyun)
• Catalan: crim (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 罪行 (zh) (zuìxíng)

• Czech: zločinnost f
• Danish: kriminalitet c
• Dutch: misdaad (nl) f
• Esperanto: krimado
• Estonian: kuritegevus
• Finnish: rikollisuus (fi), rikos (fi)
• French: délit (fr) m(under 10 years imprisonment according to law) crime (fr) m (10 years and more)
• German: Verbrechen (de) n
• Greek: έγκλημα (el) n (égklima)
• Hebrew: פֶּשַׁע (he) m (pésha')
• Hungarian: bűnözés (hu)
• Italian: criminalità (it) f
• Japanese: 犯罪 (ja) (はんざい, hanzai), 罪 (ja) (つみ, tsumi)
• Korean: 범죄(犯罪) (ko) (beomjoe)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: جەریمە (cerîme)

• Macedonian: злосторство n (zlostorstvo)
• Maltese: kriminalità f
• Norman: crînme m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kriminalitet (no) m

• Portuguese: crime (pt) m, criminalidade (pt) f
• Romanian: criminalitate (ro) f
• Russian: преступле́ние (ru) n (prestuplénije), престу́пность (ru) n (prestúpnostʹ), кримина́л (ru) m (kriminál)
• Scottish Gaelic: eucoireachd f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: зло̀чин m

  Roman: zlòčin (sh) m

• Slovene: zločin (sl) m
• Spanish: delincuencia (es) f
• Swedish: brottslighet (sv) c
• Yoruba: ìwà ọ̀daràn

collective criminal acts

• Finnish: rikollisuus (fi)
• German: Kriminalität (de) f
• Greek: εγκληματικότητα (el) f (egklimatikótita)
• Indonesian: kriminalitas (id)
• Romanian: delicvență (ro) f
• Russian: кримина́л (ru) m (kriminál)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: кримѝна̄л m

  Roman: krimìnāl (sh) m

• Spanish: delincuencia (es) f, criminalidad f
• Swedish: brottslighet (sv) c, kriminalitet (sv) c
• Yiddish: פֿאַרברעכערײַ n (farbrekheray)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: délit (fr) m(under 10 years imprisonment according to law) crime (fr) m (10 years and more) (1, 2)
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} kejahatan (id)
• Lithuanian: ^{(please verify)} nusikaltimas (lt) m
• Malayalam: ^{(please verify)} കുറ്റം (ml) (kuṟṟaṁ), ^{(please verify)} കുറ്റകൃത്യം (kuṟṟakr̥tyaṁ)
• Manchu: ^{(please verify)} weile
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} infracțiune (ro) f, ^{(please verify)} delict (ro) n
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} నేరప్రవృత్తి (nērapravr̥tti)
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} suç (tr)

References

• crime on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Verb

crime (third-person singular simple present crimes, present participle criming, simple past and past participle crimed)

1. (UK, military, transitive) To subject to disciplinary punishment.
   • 1846, John Mercier McMullen, Camp and Barrack-room, Or, The British Army as it is, page 298:

     Nevertheless, in the course of a few days he is again intoxicated, creates disturbance in his quarters, is confined by his sergeant, crimed, and brought before the commanding officer […]

2. (nonce word) To commit crime.
   • 1987, Robert Sampson, Yesterday's Faces: From the Dark Side, →ISBN, page 61:

     If, during the 1920s, the master criminal was a gamester, criming for self expression, during the 1930s he performed in other ways for other purposes.

See also

• delictual
• felony
• offence
• sin
• administrative infraction (less serious violation of the law)

Anagrams

• REMIC, merci

Asturian

Noun

crime m (plural crímenes)

1. murder
2. crime

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French crimne, borrowed from Latin crīmen, from Proto-Italic *kreimen, from Proto-Indo-European *kréymn̥, from *krey- (“sieve”) + *-mn̥.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kʁim/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -im

Noun

crime m (plural crimes)

1. a category of severe offences within French law, comparable to a felony under United States laws. Crime are tied to the strongest of penalties, 10 years and more according to law.

   Le meurtre, la trahison, ces sont les crimes punissable par la loi d’une peine lourde.

   Murder, treason; these are the crimes punishable by a heavy penalty by law.

Derived terms

• arme du crime
• crime contre l’humanité
• crime de guerre
• crime d’honneur
• crime passionnel
• le crime ne paie pas

Related terms

• criminalité
• criminel
• criminogène
• criminologie

See also

• délit

Further reading

• “crime”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• cimer
• merci

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin crīmen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkri.me/
• Rhymes: -ime
• Hyphenation: crì‧me

Noun

crime m (plural crimi)

1. (literary, rare) crime

   Synonyms: crimine, delitto

Related terms

• crimine

Further reading

• crime in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• cremi, merci

Middle English

Noun

crime

1. Alternative form of cryme

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from French crime, from Latin crīmen.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkɾĩ.mi/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkɾĩ.mi/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkɾi.me/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkɾi.mɨ/

• Hyphenation: cri‧me

Noun

crime m (plural crimes)

1. crime

   Synonym: delito

   O ladrão cometeu um crime horrível.

   The thief committed a terrible crime.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:crime.

Derived terms

• crime contra a humanidade
• crime de guerra
• crime de ódio
• crime do colarinho branco
• crime organizado
• crime passional

Related terms

• criminal
• criminalidade
• criminologia
• criminólogo
• criminoso

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkrime]

Noun

crime f

1. inflection of crimă:
   1. indefinite plural
   2. indefinite genitive/dative singular