Sin
Etymology
From Old English “synn” (offense, misdeed), of Germanic origin, possibly linked to Latin “sons/sont-” (guilty). The dominant biblical Greek term, “hamartia,” came from archery and literally meant “to miss the mark” — a framing of sin as failure to hit a target rather than pure malice. English kept the moral-legal weight; the archery image survives mostly in theology and tragedy.
noun · /SIN/
An act that violates a divine or moral law, understood as an offense against the sacred.
What it names
Wrongdoing framed as a rupture in one's relationship with the holy, not merely a legal or social breach.
Example
He no longer believed in sin as such, but the word still captured how betraying a friend felt like more than a mistake.
Related idea
Guilt is the inner state or feeling that follows wrongdoing; sin is the act itself, defined against a sacred standard rather than a private conscience.