Mortal \Mor"tal\, a. [F. mortel, L. mortalis, from mors, mortis,
death, fr. moriri 8die; akin to E. murder. See Murder, and
cf. Filemot, Mere a lake, Mortgage.]
1. Subject to death; destined to die; as, man is mortal.
2. Destructive to life; causing or occasioning death;
terminating life; exposing to or deserving death; deadly;
as, a mortal wound; a mortal sin.
3. Fatally vulnerable; vital.
Last of all, against himself he turns his sword, but
missing the mortal place, with his poniard finishes
the work. --Milton.
4. Of or pertaining to the time of death.
Safe in the hand of one disposing Power, Or in the
natal or the mortal hour. --Pope.
5. Affecting as if with power to kill; deathly.
The nymph grew pale, and in a mortal fright.
--Dryden.
6. Human; belonging to man, who is mortal; as, mortal wit or
knowledge; mortal power.
The voice of God To mortal ear is dreadful.
--Milton.
7. Very painful or tedious; wearisome; as, a sermon lasting
two mortal hours. [Colloq.]
--Sir W. Scott.
Mortal foe, Mortal enemy, an inveterate, desperate, or
implacable enemy; a foe bent on one's destruction.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
|
Sin \Sin\, n. [OE. sinne, AS. synn, syn; akin to D. zonde, OS.
sundia, OHG. sunta, G. s["u]nde, Icel., Dan. & Sw. synd, L.
sons, sontis, guilty, perhaps originally from the p. pr. of
the verb signifying, to be, and meaning, the one who it is.
Cf. Authentic, Sooth.]
1. Transgression of the law of God; disobedience of the
divine command; any violation of God's will, either in
purpose or conduct; moral deficiency in the character;
iniquity; as, sins of omission and sins of commission.
Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
--John viii.
34.
Sin is the transgression of the law. --1 John iii.
4.
I think 't no sin. To cozen him that would unjustly
win. --Shak.
Enthralled By sin to foul, exorbitant desires.
--Milton.
2. An offense, in general; a violation of propriety; a
misdemeanor; as, a sin against good manners.
I grant that poetry's a crying sin. --Pope.
3. A sin offering; a sacrifice for sin.
He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin.
--2 Cor. v.
21.
4. An embodiment of sin; a very wicked person. [R.]
Thy ambition, Thou scarlet sin, robbed this
bewailing land Of noble Buckingham. --Shak.
Note: Sin is used in the formation of some compound words of
obvious signification; as, sin-born; sin-bred,
sin-oppressed, sin-polluted, and the like.
Actual sin,
Canonical sins,
Original sin,
Venial sin. See under Actual, Canonical, etc.
Deadly, or
Mortal,
sins (R. C. Ch.), willful and deliberate transgressions,
which take away divine grace; -- in distinction from
vental sins. The seven deadly sins are pride,
covetousness, lust, wrath, gluttony, envy, and sloth.
Sin eater, a man who (according to a former practice in
England) for a small gratuity ate a piece of bread laid on
the chest of a dead person, whereby he was supposed to
have taken the sins of the dead person upon himself.
Sin offering, a sacrifice for sin; something offered as an
expiation for sin.
Syn: Iniquity; wickedness; wrong. See Crime.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
|