incrimination
UK[ɪnˌkrɪmɪˈneɪʃən]US[ɪnˌkrɪmɪˈneɪʃən]
n
the act of charging someone with a crime; the process of making someone appear guilty of a crime or fault.
Morpheme Breakdown
in
crimin
ation
in
in, into, on, toward.
crimin
ation
Etymology
The word 'incrimination' is built upon the Latin foundation crimen, meaning "charge" or "judgment," which itself evolved from the Proto-Indo-European root krei-, "to sieve, discriminate, judge." The Latin prefix in- was added to form the verb incriminare, meaning "to accuse, to involve in a crime." This verb passed into English, and the suffix -ation was appended to nominalize the action. Thus, the literal construction "the process of (ation) accusing or charging (crimin) into or against (in)" perfectly captures the modern abstract meaning of making a formal accusation of guilt.
Analysis
Structure: in + crimin + ation
- in: Latin origin. A prefix meaning "in, into, on, toward." In this context, it functions to intensify or direct the action inward.
- crimin: Latin origin. Derived from crimen (accusation, judgment, crime). It serves as the core root carrying the sense of "crime" or "accusation."
- ation: Latin origin via French. A noun-forming suffix (-atio) indicating an action or process.
Examples
The evidence led to his incrimination in the fraud scheme.
The witness's testimony was crucial for the incrimination of the suspect.
He feared self-incrimination and chose to remain silent.