sin
part of speech
noun (a sin, sins; sin — uncountable); verb (sin, sins, sinned, sinning); also an abbreviation sin (maths: sine)
meaning for a pupil
1) In religion, an act that breaks God's law or a religious rule. tree →
2) (informal) Something that seems very wrong or a shame: It's a sin to waste good food. tree →
3) (maths abbreviation) sin = sine, a function in trigonometry used with angles in triangles. tree →
sense in the lessons
In religious education, the idea of sin appears in Christianity, Islam, Judaism and other faiths, along with forgiveness. In everyday talk «It's a sin to…» means it's a terrible waste or shame. In older pupils' maths, sin, cos and tan are buttons on a calculator. «Ugly as sin» means very ugly; «live in sin» is an old phrase.
examples
- Many religions teach that stealing is a sin. tree →
- It's a sin to throw away that cake! tree →
- He asked to be forgiven for his sins. tree →
- Press the sin button on the calculator to find the sine of 30 degrees. tree →
- In the story, greed was his worst sin. tree →
- Wasting a sunny day indoors would be a sin. tree →
- "I will confess all my sins first. tree →
note
Past: sinned (double n). Person: sinner. As a maths word, «sin» is short for sine and is said «sine». Not the same as «crime» (against the law of the land).
In the corpora
- "Living in sin" is an old jokey phrase for living together without being married.
- An accident is not a sin; hiding it can grow into one.
- Liam whispered «Bless me, Father, for I have sinned» and told the priest about the name.
- In confession a person tells their sins honestly to a priest, who gives absolution and usually a small penance, like a prayer.
- Leaving out a sin on purpose in confession usually leaves the guilt in place.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «sin» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.