offense

See also: offensé

English

Alternative forms

• offence (British, Canada, Australia, New Zealand)

Etymology

From Middle English offence, from Old French offense, from Latin offensa (“a striking against; displeasure; injury”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈfɛns/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• (team sports senses, especially in the U.S.): IPA^(key): /ˈɔf.ɛns/, /ˈɑf.ɛns/)
• Hyphenation: of‧fense

• Rhymes: -ɛns

Noun

offense (countable and uncountable, plural offenses) (American spelling)

1. The act of offending.
   1. A crime or sin.
      • 1855, Frederick Douglass, chapter 3, in My Bondage and My Freedom, New York: Miller, Orton and Mulligan:

        The slave fully appreciates the saying, "where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise." When old master's gestures were violent, ending with a threatening shake of the head, and a sharp snap of his middle finger and thumb, I deemed it wise to keep at a respectable distance from him; for, at such times, trifling faults stood, in his eyes, as momentous offenses; and, having both the power and the disposition, the victim had only to be near him to catch the punishment, deserved or undeserved.

      • 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 2, in Internal Combustion‎^[1]:

        The popular late Middle Ages fictional character Robin Hood, dressed in green to symbolize the forest, dodged fines for forest offenses and stole from the rich to give to the poor. But his appeal was painfully real and embodied the struggle over wood.

   2. An affront, injury, or insult.
      • 1681, John Dryden, “The Preface to Ovid’s Epistles”, in Ovid, Ovid’s Epistles, […], 2nd edition, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC, page 26:

        Thus I have ventur'd to give my Opinion on this Subject againſt the Authority of two great men, but I hope without offence either to their Memories, for I both lov'd them living, and reverence them now they are dead.

2. The state of being offended or displeased; anger; displeasure.
3. (team sports) A strategy and tactics employed when in position to score; contrasted with defense.
4. (team sports) The portion of a team dedicated to scoring when in position to do so; contrasted with defense.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:offense

Antonyms

• defense (US), defence (Commonwealth)

Derived terms

Derived terms

• hanging offense, hanging offence
• indictable offense, indictable offence
• regulatory offense, regulatory offence
• summary offense, summary offence

Related terms

• offensive
• offend
• offender

Translations

act of offending against the law

• Armenian: հանցանք (hy) (hancʿankʿ), օրինազանցություն (hy) (ōrinazancʿutʿyun)
• Bulgarian: нарушение (bg) n (narušenie), престъпление (bg) n (prestǎplenie)
• Danish: lovovertrædelse c
• Finnish: rikos (fi) (crime); rike (fi) (minor offense); lainrikkomus (any)
• Greek: αδίκημα (el) n (adíkima)
• Hebrew: עֲבֵרָה‎ (he) f ('averá)
• Hindi: वार (hi) m (vār)
• Hungarian: sérelem (hu), sértés (hu)
• Latin: offensa f
• Malay: kesalahan (ms)
• Maori: hēanga
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lovovertredelse m

• Portuguese: ofensa (pt) f, delito (pt) m, transgressão (pt) f
• Romanian: ofensă (ro) f
• Russian: преступле́ние (ru) n (prestuplénije), правонаруше́ние (ru) n (pravonarušénije)
• Sanskrit: आगस् (sa) n (āgas), एनस् (sa) n (enas)
• Swedish: lagöverträdelse (sv) c, överträdelse (sv) c
• Ukrainian: правопору́шення (uk) n (pravoporúšennja)

act of offending against manners

• Armenian: վիրավորանք (hy) (viravorankʿ)
• Catalan: ofensa (ca) f, insult (ca) m
• Esperanto: ofendo
• Finnish: loukkaus (fi)
• Greek: προσβολή (el) f (prosvolí)
• Hungarian: sértés (hu)
• Irish: aithisiú m
• Latin: offensa f
• Portuguese: ofensa (pt) f, insulto (pt) m
• Romanian: ofensă (ro) f
• Russian: просту́пок (ru) m (prostúpok)
• Spanish: ofensa (es) f, insulto (es) m

state of being offended

• Aramaic: אבאשותא‎ (avashvta)
• Armenian: վիրավորվածություն (viravorvacutʿyun)
• Bulgarian: обида (bg) f (obida)
• Chamicuro: suchi
• Finnish: loukkaantuminen (fi)
• Georgian: შეურაცხყოფა (šeuracxq̇opa)
• German: beleidigt sein, gekränkt sein
• Greek: θυμός (el) m (thymós)
• Hebrew: עֶלְבּוֹן‎ (he) m (elbón)
• Hungarian: sértettség (hu)
• Latin: offensa f
• Russian: оби́да (ru) f (obída), оскорбле́ние (ru) n (oskorblénije)

strategy and tactics employed when in position to score

• Armenian: հարձակում (hy) (harjakum)
• Bulgarian: нападение (bg) n (napadenie), настъпление (bg) n (nastǎplenie)
• Finnish: hyökkäys (fi)
• French: attaque (fr) f, offensive (fr) f
• Georgian: შეტევა (šeṭeva)
• Greek: επίθεση (el) f (epíthesi)
• Hebrew: הַתְקָפָה‎ f (hatqafá)
• Hungarian: támadás (hu)
• Portuguese: ataque (pt) m
• Romanian: ofensivă (ro) f
• Russian: нападе́ние (ru) n (napadénije)

portion of a team dedicated to scoring

• Armenian: հարձակում (hy) (harjakum)
• Bulgarian: нападение (bg) n (napadenie)
• Finnish: hyökkääjät pl, hyökkäyspää
• French: attaque (fr) f, attaquants (fr) m pl
• Greek: επίθεση (el) f (epíthesi)
• Hebrew: הַתְקָפָה‎ f (hatqafá)
• Hungarian: támadás (hu)
• Portuguese: ataque (pt) m
• Romanian: atacant (ro) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} ذَنْب‎ m (ḏanb)
• Aramaic: ^{(please verify)} אבאשותא‎ (avashvta)
• Czech: ^{(please verify)} urážka (cs) f
• French: ^{(please verify)} offense (fr) f, ^{(please verify)} injure (fr) f, ^{(please verify)} insulte (fr) f
• Norwegian Bokmål: ^{(please verify)} fornærmelse m
• Norwegian Nynorsk: ^{(please verify)} fornærming
• Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} oilbheum m, ^{(please verify)} coire f
• Sindhi: ^{(please verify)} وارُ‎ (sd) m (vaaru)
• Tagalog: ^{(please verify)} krimen

See also

• crime
• sin

Anagrams

• seen off

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔ.fɑ̃s/

Verb

offense

1. inflection of offenser:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ofˈfen.se/, [ɔfˈfẽːs̠ɛ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ofˈfen.se/, [ofˈfɛnse]

Adjective

offēnse

1. vocative masculine singular of offēnsus