crime

the word 'crime' entered english in the 13th century from old french 'crime', which itself derived from latin 'crimen', meaning a judgment, charge, or offense. the latin term originates from the verb 'cernere', meaning 'to decide, to sift', which is rooted in the proto-indo-european base krei- (to sieve, discriminate, judge). this etymological journey illustrates a semantic shift from the act of judicial decision-making to the specific accusation and, finally, to the wrongful act itself. thus, the modern abstract meaning of an act violating legal or moral codes evolved from the ancient concept of separating right from wrong through judgment.

the word 'crime' is a simplex word borrowed from old french, ultimately from latin 'crimen' (judgment, accusation, offense). it does not contain separable morphemes in modern english spelling.