French Conversation · Level 6
87 words
French word
crime
Pronunciation
IPA/kʁim/
Meaning
- masculine nouncrime
Example
Il a commis un crime hier soir.
He committed a crime last night.
More examples
La police a bouclé la scène du crime.
The police cordoned off the crime scene.
Core concept
A broken legal boundary with serious consequences for people, property, or society.
Common phrases
commettre un crime
commit a crime
crime organisé
organized crime
scène du crime
crime scene
Similar words
infraction: A violation of a law or rule that may lead to a penalty or official sanction.
délit: A criminal offense defined by law and potentially punished by a court.
violence: An act that harms someone's body or mind and may be punishable by law.
vol: Taking someone else's property without permission, in violation of the law.
Definition in French
Acte interdit par la loi, généralement grave et puni, qui porte atteinte à des personnes, à des biens ou à la société.
Word origin
The French noun crime comes from Latin crimen, meaning an accusation or charge, and developed in Old French into the sense of a serious unlawful act.
Usage tips
- Crime is masculine, and the usual verb is commettre, as in commettre un crime, rather than the more general faire.
Other meanings
- felonynoun
Related words
- criminelcriminaladjective
- criminalitécriminalitynoun
- criminologiecriminologynoun