sinner, n.
(ˈsɪnə(r))
Forms: α. 4 sin-, synȝer, zeneȝere, sinnier, 5 synnyer. β. 4 synnere, 4–7 synner, 4– sinner. γ. 4 synnour, 4–5 (6 Sc.) synnar, 5 Sc. synar, 6 Sc. sinnar.
[f. sin v. Cf. OFris. sondere, MDu. sondaer (Du. zondaar), MLG. sunder, OHG. suntari (MHG. sundære, G. sünder), ON. and Icel. syndari (Sw. syndare, Da. synder).]
1. One who sins; a transgressor against the divine law.
| α c 1325 Prose Psalter i. 1 Blesced be þe man, þat..stode nouȝt in þe waie of sinȝeres. Ibid. i. 6 Þe sinniers. 1340 Ayenb. 33 Sleuþe and uoryetinge blendeþ þe zeneȝeres. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 201 He did so myche for Pagans and Synnyers. |
| β c 1325 Prose Psalter i. 7 Þe waye of synners schal perissen. 1382 Wyclif Mark ii. 17, I cam not for to clepe iuste men, but synners. c 1440 Alph. Tales 470 A riche man..þat was a synner of his bodie. 1509 Fisher Funeral Serm. C'tess Richmond Wks. (1876) 298 It perceth my stomacke to se the rest & ease that synners often haue. 1579 in W. Fulke Heskins' Parl. 31 Contrition maketh a man more sinner. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. iii. xxxviii. 248 Salvation of a sinner, supposeth a precedent Redemption. 1721 Young Revenge i. i, Sinners shall..bid the light adieu. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 96 Now..they are safe, sinners of either sex. 1820 Shelley Witch Atl. lxxvi, Both, like sinners caught, Blushed. 1881 Besant & Rice Chapl. of Fleet I. 179 Sir Miles enjoyed the lamentations of a sinner the morning after a debauch. |
| fig. 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 101 Like one Who..Made such a synner of his memorie To credite his owne lie. |
| Comb. 1797 T. Park Sonn. 72 She ponders o'er her follies past, And, sinner-like, repents at last. |
| γ a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xxiii. 183 Olde Adames sone, þe furste synnour [rime sauour]. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 27 Þus was Crist callid a synnar and blasfemer. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 120 Sinnaris hes thy Celsitude Resistit cruellie. |
b. spec. An unchaste woman.
| 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 695 Hec fornicatrix, a sinner. 1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 143 The Servants, Pages, Lacquies, and Filles de joye (Punkes or pleasant sinners) which follow the Court. 1688 Bunyan Jerusalem Sinner saved (1886) 41 They knew that she [the woman of Samaria] was a town sinner, an adulteress. |
c. In phrase
as I am a sinner.
| 1682 N. O. Boileau's Lutrin iv. 329 As I am a sinner, My eager stomach crokes, and calls for Dinner! ? 1800 Shelley Verses on a Cat i, As I am a sinner, It waits for some dinner. 1844 Thackeray Contrib. to Punch wks. 1900 VI. 59 My acquaintance..was in the boat with fifteen trunks, as I am a sinner. |
2. In trivial use: A reprobate, rogue; an offender against some rule or custom.
| 1809 Malkin Gil Blas iii. x, A thousand broad hints..seasoned exactly to the taste of these old sinners. 1851 Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. xxx. 231 The smoky old sinner chuckled with delight at the remembrance of his adventure. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. IV. xxii. 53 The original sinners of the Herefordshire border..were still lords of English soil. |
Hence
ˈsinner v. (with
it), to act as a sinner.
| 1735 Pope Ep. Lady 15 Whether the Charmer sinner it, or saint it, If Folly grow romantic, I must paint it. 1880 A. I. Ritchie Ch. Baldred 26 He sainted it and sinnered it. |