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Venial sin   Listen
noun
Sin  n.  
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." "Sin is the transgression of the law." "I think 't no sin. To cozen him that would unjustly win." "Enthralled By sin to foul, exorbitant desires."
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."
3.
A sin offering; a sacrifice for sin. "He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin."
4.
An embodiment of sin; a very wicked person. (R.) "Thy ambition, Thou scarlet sin, robbed this bewailing land Of noble Buckingham." 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 sins, 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.
Synonyms: Iniquity; wickedness; wrong. See Crime.


adjective
Venial  adj.  
1.
Capable of being forgiven; not heinous; excusable; pardonable; as, a venial fault or transgression. "So they do nothing, 't is a venial slip."
2.
Allowed; permitted. (Obs.) "Permitting him the while venial discourse unblamed."
Venial sin (R. C. Theol.), a sin which weakens, but does not wholly destroy, sanctifying grace, as do mortal, or deadly, sins.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Venial sin" Quotes from Famous Books



... of the effect of the Whig's exposure was brilliantly fulfilled. People did laugh over it and say that it was a good speech, whatever its source. In popular conception literary theft is at worst a venial sin whose very iniquity is doubtful unless found out. The culprit's average fellow-townsman accepted the incident as fresh evidence of his acknowledged cleverness and promptly forgot it in the nine days' wonder over his ...
— The Henchman • Mark Lee Luther
... coif of shawl or hood of cloak around their heads, and then tell you—nothing! God bless them, innocent souls! No need for these elaborate preparations. Yet what contrition, what sorrow, what love they pour forth over some simple imperfections, where even a Jansenist cannot detect the shadow of a venial sin! No wonder that my curate declares that we have material in Ireland to make it again a wonder to the world,—an Island of Saints once more! But something is wanting. He does not know what, nor do I. But he says sometimes that he feels as ...
— My New Curate • P.A. Sheehan
... they were learned, and that I was not under any other obligation than that of believing them, as their instructions to me were lax, and left me more at liberty—for if they had been strict with me, I am so wicked, I should have sought for others. That which was a venial sin, they told me was no sin at all; of that which was most grievously mortal, they said it was ...
— The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus • Teresa of Avila
... to describe the punishments which the gods would inflict upon false witnesses; but, curiously enough, allows false witness to be given, from a benevolent motive, in order to save an innocent man from a tyrant. This is called "the venial sin of benevolent falsehood." The book then proceeds to describe weights and measures, and the rate of usury, which is put down as five percent. It forbids compound interest. The law of deposits occupies a large space, as in all Eastern countries, where investments ...
— Ten Great Religions - An Essay in Comparative Theology • James Freeman Clarke


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