The Word

The Word That Has Become an Offence

If you say it or even mention it, you can almost see people’s backs go up. They may cringe, shrug their shoulders, or simply say they are not interested. They do not believe in it; it is outdated. So, what is this word that has caused so much offence?

It is the word “sin.”

To explore why this word has become so difficult for many people, let us first consider its etymology. Where did the term originate, and what did it originally mean?

The English word sin comes from Middle English sinne, from Old English synn, meaning “violation of divine law, offence against God, or moral wrongdoing.” It could also refer to injury, mischief, enmity, guilt, crime, or misdeed. The word can be traced further back to Proto-Germanic sundiō, meaning “sin,” with related forms appearing in several Germanic languages.

According to etymological sources such as Watkins, there is a possibility that the word is ultimately connected to the idea of “it is true” or “the sin is real,” through roots associated with being or becoming. This has been linked with the idea of being found genuinely guilty. Similar developments can be seen in Latin sons, meaning “guilty” or “criminal,” which is related to sum, esse, meaning “to be.”

The important point here is that the history of the word brings together ideas of wrongdoing, guilt, crime and truth. Sin is therefore not simply an arbitrary label placed upon certain behaviours; historically, the word has carried the idea that something has gone wrong and that this wrong has consequences.

There is another explanation of the word sin that is often repeated: that it derives from the idea of “missing the mark.”This interpretation is associated particularly with the Greek word hamartia, which can carry the sense of missing or failing to achieve a goal. The claim that the English word sin itself derives from “missing the mark” is disputed, so the two ideas should not be confused. Nevertheless, the metaphor is useful because it offers another way of thinking about wrongdoing: if there is a target or purpose, then our actions can either move us towards it or take us away from it.

This distinction matters because of the effect that words have on the people who hear them.

There are other terms used to describe what is commonly understood as sin, such as transgression, wrongdoing, and the Greek hamartia. Each carries slightly different nuances. Yet sin is the word most commonly associated with religious ideas of guilt, punishment, impurity and breaking divine commandments.

The Bible frequently uses the concept of sin when describing humanity’s failure to follow God’s commandments and the harm that wrongdoing can cause to ourselves and others. The Qur’an also uses a range of Arabic terms that can be translated into English as “sin,” but these words are not necessarily interchangeable. Each carries its own meaning and implications, and together they can give us a deeper understanding of wrongdoing.

This brings us back to the idea of “missing the mark.”

If we take this as a useful metaphor, we can infer three things. First, as human beings, we are aiming for something. Second, our actions help determine whether we reach that destination. Third, some actions move us towards our goal while others prevent us from achieving it.

The Arabic language contains several terms relating to wrongdoing, each highlighting a different dimension of what we might broadly call “sin.” One of these is khaṭīʾa (خطيئة), which can refer to a mistake, wrongdoing or offence. Another is ẓulm (ظلم), which carries the ideas of injustice, wrongdoing, oppression or wronging another.

Today, I want to focus on ẓulm.

The Quran says:

“If GOD punished the people for their transgressions, He would have annihilated every creature on earth. But He gives them respite until an appointed time. Then, when their time comes, they cannot delay it for one hour, nor advance it.”
— Quran, Surah an-Nahl, Chapter 16, The Bee, Versr 61

If we examine more closely the Arabic concepts underlying wrongdoing, we can begin to see that sin is not merely a matter of breaking God’s laws or carrying a burden of guilt. The concept can go further: wrongdoing can be understood as something that causes harm, injustice and oppression.

And this raises an important question: who is actually being harmed by sin?

It cannot be God. Human wrongdoing does not diminish God or cause Him injury. Rather, the consequences of wrongdoing fall upon creation—upon ourselves and upon other people.

Hold that thought for a moment.

We cannot oppress God, but through our wrongdoing we can oppress ourselves. And we can also oppress others.

This gives the word sin a very different dimension.

In much Christian literature, sin has often been associated with crime, guilt, impurity and the breaking of God’s commandments. Islamic literature contains similar concepts, but the richness of the Arabic vocabulary allows different aspects of wrongdoing to be distinguished. Rather than treating every form of wrongdoing as simply “sin,” terms such as khaṭīʾa and ẓulm can draw our attention to different dimensions of what has gone wrong.

Perhaps this is important because of the way our minds respond to words such as obedience, commandment and law. We can instinctively associate them with restriction, authority and oppression. We may therefore hear the word sin as another instrument of control: a list of things we are forbidden to do.

But what if we turn the idea around?

What if sin is not primarily about God restricting us, but about what happens to us when we move away from the path that is intended for us?

What if the thing that appears restrictive—the guidance itself—is actually intended to protect us from the very forms of oppression that our own actions can create?

Seen this way, sin is not simply about breaking a rule and receiving a punishment. It is about the consequences of our choices: how we affect ourselves, how we affect others, and how far our actions take us from the purpose for which we were created.

Perhaps, then, the problem is not only the word “sin.”

Perhaps the problem is that we have forgotten what the word is trying to tell us.

Bibliography

Etymology and Linguistics

Online Etymology Dictionary. “Sin.” Online Etymology Dictionary. Accessed 12 August 2026.

Watkins, Calvert. The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots. 3rd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011.