peccant

English

Etymology

(deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin peccāns, peccantis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɛkənt/

Adjective

peccant (comparative more peccant, superlative most peccant)

1. (obsolete) Unhealthy; causing disease.
   • (Can we date this quote by Francis Bacon and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     peccant humours

2. Sinful.
   • (Can we date this quote by Milton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     peccant angels

3. Wrong; defective; faulty.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Ayliffe to this entry?)

   • 1886, Henry James, The Bostonians.

     Olive rested her eyes for some moments upon Mrs. Luna, without speaking. Then she said: 'Your veil is not put on straight, Adeline.'
     'I look like a monster—that, evidently, is what you mean!' Adeline exclaimed, going to the mirror to rearrange the peccant tissue.

Related terms

• impeccable
• peccable

Noun

peccant (plural peccants)

1. (obsolete) An offender.
   • 1654, Richard Whitlock, Zootomia; Or, Observations on the Present Manners of the English

     Yet this conceitednesse and Itch of being taken for a Counsellour, maketh more Reprovers, than Peccants in the world.

Further reading

• “peccant”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “peccant”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “peccant”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

---

Latin

Verb

(deprecated template usage) peccant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of peccō