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transgress - 5 dictionary results

trans⋅gress

  [trans-gres, tranz-]
Use transgress in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to violate a law, command, moral code, etc.; offend; sin.
–verb (used with object)
2. to pass over or go beyond (a limit, boundary, etc.): to transgress bounds of prudence.
3. to go beyond the limits imposed by (a law, command, etc.); violate; infringe: to transgress the will of God.
Origin:
1520–30; < L trānsgressus (ptp. of trānsgredī to step across), equiv. to trāns- trans- + -gred- (comb. form of gradī to step; see grade ) + -tus ptp. suffix, with dt > ss

Related forms:
trans⋅gres⋅sive, adjective
trans⋅gres⋅sive⋅ly, adverb
trans⋅gres⋅sor, noun

Synonyms:
1. err, trespass. 3. contravene, disobey.

Antonyms:
3. obey.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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trans·gress   (trāns-grěs', trānz-)   
v.   trans·gressed, trans·gress·ing, trans·gress·es

v.   tr.
  1. To go beyond or over (a limit or boundary); exceed or overstep: "to make sure that her characters didn't transgress the parameters of ordinariness" (Ron Rosenbaum).
  2. To act in violation of (the law, for example).
v.   intr.
  1. To commit an offense by violating a law or command; sin.
  2. To spread over land, especially over the land along a subsiding shoreline. Used of the sea.

[Middle English transgressen, from Old French transgresser, from Latin trānsgredī, trānsgress-, to step across : trāns-, trans- + gradī, to go; see ghredh- in Indo-European roots.]
trans·gress'i·ble adj., trans·gres'sive adj., trans·gres'sive·ly adv., trans·gres'sor n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Transgress

Trans*gress"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Transgressed; p. pr. & vb. n. Transgressing.] [Cf. F. transgresser. See Transgression.]

1. To pass over or beyond; to surpass. [R.]

Surpassing common faith, transgressing nature's law. --Dryden.

2. Hence, to overpass, as any prescribed as the ?imit of duty; to break or violate, as a law, civil or moral.

For man will hearken to his glozing lies, And easily transgress the sole command. --Milton.

3. To offend against; to vex. [Obs.]

Why give you peace to this imperate beast That hath so long transgressed you ? --Beau. & Fl.

Transgress

Trans*gress"\, v. i. To offend against the law; to sin.

Who transgressed in the thing accursed. --I Chron. ii. 7.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Main Entry: trans·gress
Pronunciation: tranz-'gres, trans-
Function: transitive verb
1 : to go beyond limits set or prescribed by : VIOLATE
2 : to pass beyond or go over (a limit or boundary) intransitive verb 1 : to violate a law
2 : to go beyond a boundary or limit
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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