condemn, v.
(kənˈdɛm)
Forms: 3–4 condemp, 4–6 -dempn(e, 7 condem, -demne, 6– condemn. Also 4–6 condampn, 6 -damn.
[a. OF. condemne-r, -dempne-r, also from 13th c. condamner, ad. L. condem(p)nāre to condemn, convict, sentence, etc., f. con- together, or intensive + dam(p)nā-re to damage, hurt, condemn. In Fr. the verb settled down into the form condamner (cf. It. condannare), which was also frequent in Eng. from 14th to 16th c.; but here the influence of the Lat. caused the final prevalence of condemn.]
1. a. trans. To pronounce an adverse judgement on; to express strong disapproval of, censure, blame.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 18176 (Gött.), Quat ert þu..þat..Condempnid þu þus all vr pouste? c 1449 Pecock Repr. 4 The clergie which summe of the comoun peple..Iugen and Condempnen to be yuele. 1559 Bp. Scot in Strype Ann. Ref. I. App. x. 29 We do not unadvisedly condempne our forefathers and their doings. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. iii. iv. 141, I could condemne it as an improbable fiction. 1661 Bramhall Just Vind. ii. 7 So long as they forbear to censure and condemn one another. 1788 Reid Aristotle's Log. iv. §1. 68 This is a fault in reasoning which Aristotle condemns. 1871 R. W. Dale Commandm. ii. 41 The second Commandment condemns a very different sin from that which is condemned in the first. |
b. Said of witnesses and acts: To procure the condemnation of, to bring about the conviction of.
| 1382 Wyclif Wisd. iv. 16 Forsothe the riȝtwis dead condempneth the unpitous men on liue. ― Matt. xii. 41 Men of Nynyue shal ryse in dome with this generacioun, and shulen condempne it. 1509 Fisher Wks. 242 If I wolde iustyfy myn owne selfe, my wordes shall condempne me. 1611 Bible Matt. xii. 42. 1632 Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 22 Concealing such things as might condemne her selfe for a mediatrix. Mod. Their looks condemn them. His subsequent conduct condemns him. |
c. absol.
| 1535 Coverdale Luke vi. 37 Condempne not and ye shal not be condempned. |
2. a. To give judicial sentence against; to find guilty, convict. Opposed to acquit, absolve.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter cviii. 6 When he is demyd ga he out condempnyd. 1388 Wyclif Mark xiv. 64 And thei alle condempneden hym to be gilti of deeth. 1559 Mirr. Mag., Dk. Clarence li, I giltles was condemned. 1611 Bible Deut. xxv. 1 The Iudges..shall iustifie the righteous, and condemne the wicked. 1680 G. Hickes Spir. Popery 35 She was since Arraigned and Condemn[ed] for the horrid Murder. 1735 Pope Sat. vii. 15 The thief condemn'd, in law already dead. 1795 Gent. Mag. LXV. i. 519 The execution of two men condemned by a general court martial for riotous and disorderly conduct. 1879 W. Smith Smaller Hist. Eng. 156 Cranmer had been tried and condemned with Latimer and Ridley. |
b. absol.
| 1647 J. Saltmarsh Sparkl. Glory (1847) 177, I dare not judge, nor condemn, nor conclude. |
3. esp. with the penalty expressed, as condemn to death, condemn to be beheaded: formerly also in a fine or forfeiture.
| 1382 Wyclif 2 Chron. xxxvi. 3 The kyng of Egipt..condempnede the lond in an hundrith talentis of syluer. c 1400 Mandeville x. (1839) 114 The oþere schall he condempne to perpetuell peynes. 1425 Paston Lett. No. 5. I. 21 Sir John Paston..hath optyned me condempnyd to hym in CCC [vij] marcz. 1514 Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) 44 Condemned to suffer suche payne. 1526–34 Tindale Luke xxiv. 20 To be condempned to deeth. 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utop. ii. (Arb.) 145 Condempned him into exile. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. v. i. 419 We doe condemne thee to the very Blocke. 1642 Rogers Naaman 19 Condemned in as much as they are worth. 1713 Mem. Sign. Rozelli (ed. 2) I. 212 They condemn'd me to perpetual Imprisonment. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. (1858) II. 229 A woman..was condemned to be whipped through all the market towns..in Dorset. 1874 Green Short Hist. vi. 268 Condemned to do penance in the streets of London. |
4. To pronounce guilty of (a crime or fault).
| 1535 Wriothesley Chron. (1875) I. 28 And there condempned of highe treason against the Kinge. 1600 Holland Livy vii. xiii. 257 Supposing themselves by you condemned of cowardise. 1624 Heywood Gunaik. ii. 97 She was condemned of incest and buried alive. 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. v. i. 295 Condemn him of a mis-expence of his Time or Talents. 1718 Wodrow Corr. (1843) II. 353 The Synod..condemned him of heterodoxy. 1882 J. C. Morison Macaulay 76 It is vastly more comforting to hear Dr. Lingard condemn James II of injustice, infatuation, arbitrary and impotent policy. |
5. a. To doom to punishment in the world to come, to damn.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce iv. 26 In hell condampnyt mot he be. 1563 Nowel in Liturg. Serv. Q. Eliz. (1847) 496 God doth punishe us in this worlde, that we should not be condempned with the wicked in the worlde to come. 1540–78 Gude & Godlie Ballates (1868) 21 We had eternallie in hell condampnit bene. |
† b. absol. To damn. Obs.
| c 1460 Sir R. Ros tr. La Belle Dame 374 in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 64 Ye and othir that swere suche othis faste, and soo condempne & cursen too & froo. |
6. fig. To doom or devote to some (unkind) fate or condition; in pass. to be doomed by fate to some condition or to do something.
| 1653 Walton Angler i. 5 Men that are condemn'd to be rich. 1674 tr. Scheffer's Lapland xxviii. 131 They [Rein⁓deer] are tamed; one sort being condemned to the Sledge..others to carry burdens. 1734 Pope Ess. Man iv. 263 Condemn'd in bus'ness or in arts to drudge. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 58 A tract of sea..condemned to perpetual calms. |
7. a. To adjudge or pronounce forfeited, as a prize of war, smuggled goods, etc.
| 1705 Lond. Gaz. No. 4143/4, 8 Casks of Brandy, seized and condemned according to Law. 1783 Gent. Mag. LIII. i. 175 If it [i.e. a Dutch ship] is condemned as a prize it is said the whole will belong to Lord North. 1873 Act 36 & 37 Vict. c. 88 §2 The court..having jurisdiction to try and condemn a vessel engaged in the slave trade. |
b. To pronounce judicially (land, etc.) as converted or convertible to public use. U.S.
| 1833 Niles' Reg. XLIV. 192/2 All expenses to be incurred, in condemning, or purchasing ground..shall be..at the proper cost of the rail road company. 1876 Congress. Rec. 2 Aug. 5079/1 If the Government has the right to make this improvement, and the State of Oregon does not furnish the land..the Government has a right to condemn it for that purpose. |
8. To pronounce judicially or officially to be unfit for use or for consumption.
| 1745 P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 106 We condemned twenty-one Fathom of our best Bower-Cable as unfit for Use. 1776 Voy. under Byron 139 We found the Falmouth man of war condemned and lying ashore. 1867 J. Timbs Wonderf. Invent. (1882) 358 Several rifles on this model were..condemned..from the escape of gas round the needle. 1878 Glen Public Health Act 1875 iii. (ed. 9) 114 If [it]..is diseased or unsound..he shall condemn the same and order it to be destroyed. 1939 M. S. Rice Working-Class Wives vii. 181 Mrs. R...lives in two rooms of a back-to-back house; part of the street is condemned. 1951 E. Coxhead One Green Bottle i. 9 Though it had been condemned twenty years before, a house is a house. |
9. To pronounce incurable, to give up.
| a 1831 A. Knox Rem. (1844) I. 38 The sick man's feeling is gloomy, because it condemns him. 1862 Ruskin Munera P. (1880) 46 No man considers himself richer because he is condemned by his physician. |
10. Of a door or window: To close or block up. (Cf. Fr. condamner une porte, une fenêtre.)
| c 1565 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. 488 (Jam.) The Frenchmen..condemned all the close and wall heidis that war within the castle. 1880 H. James Portr. Lady iii, The door that had been condemned, and that was fastened by bolts. 1884 C. Reade in Harper's Mag. Mar. 637/2 ‘I condemned it ten years ago.’ ‘Full that,’ said Pierre; ‘'twas I nailed it up.’ |