Definition

properly, to miss; hence (figuratively and generally) to sin; by inference, to forfeit, lack, expiate, repent, (causatively) lead astray, condemn

Etymology

a primitive root;

Where the KJV renders it

• bear the blame
• cleanse
• commit (sin)
• by fault
• harm he hath done
• loss
• miss
• (make) offend(-er)
• offer for sin
• purge
• purify (self)
• make reconciliation
• (cause
• make) sin(-ful
• -ness)
• trespass

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Hebrew term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.