crimen

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin crīmen (“verdict; adultery; crime”). Doublet of crime.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɹaɪmən/

Noun

crimen (countable and uncountable, plural crimina)

1. (law, ecclesiastical law) An impediment to Catholic marriage due to a conspiracy to murder or a death of a previous spouse.
   • 1884, The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, 3rd Series, Volume V, page 416,

     Such presumptions are common in connection with crimen and affinity.

   • 2006, Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Quarterly, Volumes 29-30, Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, page 7,

     Third, some might think that Michael avoids the impediment of crimen because a civil court approved his petition to deprive Terri of nutrition and hydration.

   Synonym: impediment of crime

   Coordinate term: conjugicide

Related terms

• crimen adulterii
• crimen exceptum
• crimen falsi
• crimen injuria
• nullum crimen

See also

• bigamy
• diriment
• diriment impediment

Further reading

• Impediment (Catholic canon law) § List of diriment impediments to marriage on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• mincer

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *kreimən, from Proto-Indo-European *kréymn̥, from *krey- (“sieve”) + *-mn̥, equivalent to cernō (“sieve”) +‎ -men (noun-forming suffix). Compare also Ancient Greek κρῖμα (krîma).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkriː.mɛn]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkriː.men]

Noun

crīmen n (genitive crīminis); third declension

1. a judicial decision, verdict, or judgment
2. an object of reproach, invective
3. a crime, fault, offense

   Synonyms: dēlīctum, peccātum, scelus, vitium, noxa, facinus, iniūria, error, culpa, malum, commissum, flāgitium, dēlinquentia, maleficium

   Antonyms: bonum, rēctum, virtūs

   • probably 1355, Marino Faliero's picture in the Great Council Hall, Venice

     Hic est locus Marinī Faliero
     decapitātī prō crīminibus

     This is the place for Marino Faliero,
     decapitated for crimes

4. an object representing a crime
5. a cause of a crime; criminal
6. the crime of lewdness; adultery
7. (in respect to the accuser) a charge, accusation, reproach; calumny, slander
8. (in respect to the accused) the fault one is accused of; crime, misdeed, offence, fault

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	crīmen	crīmina
genitive	crīminis	crīminum
dative	crīminī	crīminibus
accusative	crīmen	crīmina
ablative	crīmine	crīminibus
vocative	crīmen	crīmina

Derived terms

• crīminālis
• crīminor
• crīminōsus

Related terms

• crīmināliter
• crīminātiō
• crīminātor
• crīminātrix
• crīminō
• crīminōsē

Descendants

• → Albanian: krim
• Aromanian: crimã
• Catalan: crim
• → English: crimen
• Old French: crime
  • French: crime
    • → Portuguese: crime
  • → English: crime
• Norman: crînme
• Italian: crimine
• → Romanian: crimă
• Romansh: crim
• Sicilian: crìmini
• Spanish: crimbre
• → Spanish: crimen
  • → Tagalog: krimen

Further reading

• “crimen”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “crimen”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “crimen”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to reproach a person with..: aliquid alicui crimini dare, vertere
    
  • to refute charges: crimina diluere, dissolvere
    
  • to reproach, blame a person for..: aliquid alicui crimini dare, vitio vertere (Verr. 5. 50)
    
• “crimen”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “crimen”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Anagrams

• Cremni

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *krey-

Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥

Proto-Indo-European *kréymn̥

Proto-Italic *kreimən

Latin crīmenlbor.

Spanish crimen

Learned borrowing from Latin crīmen (“verdict; crime”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɾimen/ [ˈkɾi.mẽn]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -imen
• Syllabification: cri‧men

Noun

crimen m (plural crímenes)

1. crime

   Synonym: delito

   1. (specifically) violent crime

      Synonym: delito

Usage notes

• crimen refers to very serious crimes such as murder or assault; delito refers to any violation of the law. In colloquial language they are synonymous.

Derived terms

• crimen contra naturaleza
• crimen de guerra
• crimen de honor
• crimen de lesa humanidad
• crimen organizado
• crimen pasional

Related terms

• criminal
• criminar

Descendants

• → Ilocano: krimen
• → Tagalog: krimen

Further reading

• “crimen”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025