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Origin and history of offender

offender(n.)

early 15c., offendour, "a lawbreaker; a sinner," agent noun from offend (v.). Earlier was offendour (early 15c.), from Anglo-French.

also from early 15c.

Entries linking to offender

offend(v.)

early 14c., offenden, "to disobey or sin against (a person, human or divine)," a sense now obsolete, from Old French ofendre "hit, attack, injure; sin against; antagonize, excite to anger" and directly from Latin offendere "to hit, thrust, or strike against," figuratively "to stumble, commit a fault, displease, trespass against, provoke," from assimilated form of ob "in front of against" (see ob-) + -fendere "to strike" (found only in compounds; see defend).

Meaning "to violate (a law), to make a moral false step, to commit a crime" is from late 14c. Meaning "to wound the feelings of, displease, give displeasure to, excite personal annoyance or resentment in" is from late 14c. The literal sense of "to attack, assail" (late 14c.) is obsolete, but it is somewhat preserved in offense and offensive. Related: Offended; offending; offendedness.

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    fulminate
    early 15c., "publish a 'thundering' denunciation; hurl condemnation (at an offender)," a figurative use, from Latin fulminatus...
    pillory
    "frame of wood erected on a post or pole with holes into which were put the head and hands of an offender who was thus exposed...
    gantlet
    "military punishment in which offender runs between rows of men who beat him in passing," 1640s, gantlope, gantelope, from...
    delict
    as slighter offenses which do not immediately affect the public peace, but which imply an obligation on the part of the offender...
    pardon
    the feelings; it means that one not only resolves to overlook the offense and reestablishes amicable relations with the offender...
    convict
    mid-14c., "to convince by arguments, convince of wrongdoing or sin" (a sense now obsolete), from Latin convictus, past participle of convincere "to 'overcome' in argument, to overcome decisively; to convict of crime or error," from assimilated form of com-, here perhaps an intens
    recidivist
    "relapsed criminal," 1863, from French legal term récidiviste (by 1847), from récidiver "to fall back, relapse," from Medieval Latin recidivare "to relapse into sin," from Latin recidivus "falling back," from recidere "fall back," from re- "back, again" (see re-) + combining form
    procurer
    late 14c., procurour, "advocate, spokesman," from Anglo-French procurour, Old French procureur (13c., Modern French procureur), from Latin procurator (see procurator). Meaning "contriver, one who or that which brings on or causes to be done" is from mid-15c. Specifically of one w
    pimp
    "one who provides others with the means and opportunity of gratifying their sexual lusts," c. 1600, of unknown origin, perhaps from French pimpant "alluring in dress, seductive," present participle of pimper "to dress elegantly" (16c.), from Old French pimpelorer, pipelorer "deco
    shark
    "large, voracious fish," by 1560s, perhaps mid-15c., if an isolated instance in a diary quoted in Middle English Compendium is the same word, of uncertain origin. The meaning "dishonest person who preys on others," though attested from 1599 (sharker "artful swindler" in this sens

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