Etymograph

English

sinful

Sinful comes from Old English synful ‘sinful, guilty, wicked, corrupt’, from synn ‘misdeed, fault, crime, wrong’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- ‘to be’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁es-1‘to be’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sunjō1‘truth, reality’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sunnju1‘actuality, distress, concern’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150synn2‘misdeed, fault, crime, wrong’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150synful3‘sinful, guilty, wicked, corrupt’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500synful3
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2018sinful3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English synn
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English synful
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English sinful
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2018, Rachel Cohn, David Levithan: “I take a whiff of the most sincerely sinful…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁es-Wiktionary, Old English synn‘to be’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sunjōWiktionary, Old English synn‘truth, reality’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sunnjuWiktionary, Old English synn‘actuality, distress, concern’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150synnWiktionary, Old English synful‘misdeed, fault, crime, wrong’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150synfulWiktionary, English sinful‘sinful, guilty, wicked, corrupt’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500synfulWiktionary, English sinful
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2018sinfulWiktionary, English sinful. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2018, Rachel Cohn, David Levithan: “I take a whiff of the most sincerely sinful…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- ‘to be’

is, am, potential, interest, soothe, swastika, sooth, asana, quintessence, 11 more

through Old English synn ‘misdeed, fault, crime, wrong’

sin, sinless

Today it means

adj Having sinned; guilty of sin.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sinful”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Old English synn, Old English synful. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- / sinful

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