Citations:felon

English citations of felon

			1678
ME «	15th c.	16th c.	17th c.	18th c.	19th c.	20th c.	21st c.

1. (criminal law) A person who has committed a felony (“serious criminal offence”); specifically, one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime.
   • 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, pages 215–216:

     And therefore they are but like the Fellon that ſtandeth before the Judge, he quakes and trembles, and ſeems to repent most heartily; but the bottom of all is, the fear of the Halter, not of any deteſtation of the offence; as is evident, becauſe, let but this man have his liberty, and he vvill be a Thief, and ſo a Rogue still, vvhereas, if his mind vvas changed, he vvould be othervviſe.