sin

See also: Appendix:Variations of "sin"

Languages (68)

Translingual • English

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Page categories

Translingual

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *sinos

Proto-Italic *sinus

Latin sinusbor.

English sineclip.

▲

Latin sinusclip.

Translingual sin

Clipping of English sine or Latin sinus.

Symbol

sin

1. (mathematics) The trigonometric function sine.

Etymology 2

Clipping of English Sinhalese, from Sinhalese සිංහල (siṁhala), itself borrowed from Sanskrit सिंहल (siṃhala).

Symbol

sin

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Sinhalese.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Sinhalese terms

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English sinne, synne, sunne, zen, from Old English synn (“sin”), from Proto-West Germanic *sunnju, from Proto-Germanic *sunjō (“truth, excuse”) and *sundī, *sundijō (“sin”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁s-ónt-ih₂, from *h₁sónts ("being, true", implying a verdict of "truly guilty" against an accusation or charge), from *h₁es- (“to be”); compare Old English sōþ ("true"; see sooth). Doublet of suttee.

Cognates

Cognate with Saterland Frisian Sände, Säände (“sin”), West Frisian sûnde (“sin”), German Sünde (“sin”), Luxembourgish Sënd, Sënn (“sin”), Vilamovian zynd (“sin”) Yiddish זינד (zind, “sin”), Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish synd (“sin”), Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌾𐌰 (sunja, “truth”), Latin sont-, sons (“sinful, guilty, criminal”).

Alternative forms

• sinne, synne (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪn/, [ˈsɪn]

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪn
• Hyphenation: sin

Noun

sin (countable and uncountable, plural sins)

2. (theology) A violation of divine will or religious law.

   Synonyms: (in Hinduism) adharma, (in Islam) ithm, (in Islam) haram

   As a Christian, I think this is a sin against God.

   • 1866, James Buchanan, Mr. Buchanan's Administration on the Eve of the Rebellion‎^[3], New York: D. Appleton and Company, →OCLC, →OL, page 9:

     Slavery, according to them, was a grievous sin against God, and therefore no human Constitution could rightfully shield it from destruction. It was sinful to live in a political confederacy which tolerated slavery in any of the States composing it; […]

3. Sinfulness, depravity, iniquity.

   Synonyms: baseness, degeneracy, turpitude; see also Thesaurus:iniquity

4. A misdeed or wrong.

   Synonyms: offence, misdoing; see also Thesaurus:misdeed

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, “Eye Witness”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 249:

     The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen. […] The second note, the high alarum, not so familiar and always important since it indicates the paramount sin in Man's private calendar, took most of them by surprise although they had been well prepared.

5. A sin offering; a sacrifice for sin.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Corinthians 5:21, column 2:

     For he hath made him to be ſinne for vs, who knewe no ſinne, […]

6. An embodiment of sin; a very wicked person.
   • 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 222, column 1:

     Thy Ambition / (Thou Scarlet ſinne) robb’d this bewailing Land / Of Noble Buckingham, […]

7. A flaw or mistake.

   Synonyms: deficiency, fault; see also Thesaurus:defect

   No movie is without sin.

8. (sports) sin bin
   • 2023 October 28, Leighton Koopman, “YES!!! The Springboks beat the All Blacks to win another Rugby World Cup title”, in Independent Online‎^[4]:

     Winger Cheslin Kolbe, sitting with his jersey over his head in the sin after a yellow card at the death, was probably the sight of millions of South Africans around the country who had their hearts in their mouth as they sat through another nail-biting match.

Derived terms

Terms derived from sin (noun)

• actual sin
• archsin
• as sin
• birth sin
• cardinal sin
• deadly sin
• eternal sin
• guilty as sin
• hate the sin but love the sinner
• let he who is without sin cast the first stone
• let him that is without sin cast the first stone
• let him who is without sin cast the first stone
• like sin
• live in sin
• love the sinner but hate the sin
• man of sin
• mortal sin
• original antigenic sin
• original as sin
• original sin
• philosophical sin
• sin bin
• sin-binning
• sin-eater
• sin eater
• sin eating
• sin-free
• sinful
• sinfully
• sinhound
• sinless
• sinlessness
• sinlike
• sin money
• sinning
• sinny
• sin offering
• sin-ridden
• sinsational
• sin tax
• sinward
• theological sin
• ugly as sin
• unpardonable sin
• venial sin

Translations

See sin/translations § Noun.

Verb

sin (third-person singular simple present sins, present participle sinning, simple past and past participle sinned)

1. (intransitive, theology) To commit a sin.

Derived terms

• as much sinning as sinned against
• outsin
• sinner
• sinningly
• sinningness
• unsin

Translations

See sin/translations § Verb.

Etymology 2

Modification of shin.

Alternative forms

• seen, sīn

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɪn/, /siːn/

Noun

sin (plural sins)

1. A letter of the Hebrew alphabet; שׂ
2. A letter of the Arabic alphabet; س

Etymology 3

Noun

sin (plural sins)

1. Alternative form of sinh (“tube skirt”).

Anagrams

• INS, Ins, Ins., NIS, NSI, Niš, in's, ins, ins., nis

Afar

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsin/ [ˈsɪn]
• Hyphenation: sin

Pronoun

sín (predicative síini)

1. ye, you

See also

Afar personal pronouns

		1st person	2nd person	3rd person
				m	f
subject	singular	anú	atú	úsuk	ís
	plural	nanú	isín	úsun
object	singular	yó	kó	ká	tét
	plural	né	sín	kén

Determiner

sín

1. your (second person plural)

See also

Afar possessive determiners

		1st person	2nd person	3rd person
				m	f
personal	singular	yi	ku	kay	tet
	plural	ni	sin	ken
reflexive	singular	inní	isí
	plural	ninní	isinní, sinní

References

• E. M. Parker; R. J. Hayward (1985), “sin”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN
• Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015), L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)‎^[5], Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis)

Afrikaans

Etymology 1

From Dutch zin, from Middle Dutch sin, from Old Dutch sin, from Proto-West Germanic *sinn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sən/

Noun

sin (plural sinne, diminutive sinnetjie)

1. meaning, sense
2. sentence
3. sense (means of perceiving reality)
4. sense, comprehension
5. desire

Derived terms

• sinvol

Etymology 2

Particle

sin

1. misspelling of s'n

Aromanian

Alternative forms

• sinu

Etymology

From Latin sinus. Compare Romanian sân, Spanish seno.

Noun

sin n (plural sinj)

1. breast

See also

• tsãtsã

Asturian

Preposition

sin

1. alternative form of ensin

Azerbaijani

Other scripts

Cyrillic		син
Arabic		سین

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic سِين (sīn).

Noun

sin (definite accusative sini, plural sinlər)

1. the Arabic letter س

Declension

Declension of sin

	singular	plural
nominative	sin	sinlər
definite accusative	sini	sinləri
dative	sinə	sinlərə
locative	sində	sinlərdə
ablative	sindən	sinlərdən
definite genitive	sinin	sinlərin

Possessive forms of sin

	nominative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	sinim	sinlərim
sənin (“your”)	sinin	sinlərin
onun (“his/her/its”)	sini	sinləri
bizim (“our”)	sinimiz	sinlərimiz
sizin (“your”)	sininiz	sinləriniz
onların (“their”)	sini or sinləri	sinləri
	accusative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	sinimi	sinlərimi
sənin (“your”)	sinini	sinlərini
onun (“his/her/its”)	sinini	sinlərini
bizim (“our”)	sinimizi	sinlərimizi
sizin (“your”)	sininizi	sinlərinizi
onların (“their”)	sinini or sinlərini	sinlərini
	dative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	sinimə	sinlərimə
sənin (“your”)	sininə	sinlərinə
onun (“his/her/its”)	sininə	sinlərinə
bizim (“our”)	sinimizə	sinlərimizə
sizin (“your”)	sininizə	sinlərinizə
onların (“their”)	sininə or sinlərinə	sinlərinə
	locative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	sinimdə	sinlərimdə
sənin (“your”)	sinində	sinlərində
onun (“his/her/its”)	sinində	sinlərində
bizim (“our”)	sinimizdə	sinlərimizdə
sizin (“your”)	sininizdə	sinlərinizdə
onların (“their”)	sinində or sinlərində	sinlərində
	ablative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	sinimdən	sinlərimdən
sənin (“your”)	sinindən	sinlərindən
onun (“his/her/its”)	sinindən	sinlərindən
bizim (“our”)	sinimizdən	sinlərimizdən
sizin (“your”)	sininizdən	sinlərinizdən
onların (“their”)	sinindən or sinlərindən	sinlərindən
	genitive
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	sinimin	sinlərimin
sənin (“your”)	sininin	sinlərinin
onun (“his/her/its”)	sininin	sinlərinin
bizim (“our”)	sinimizin	sinlərimizin
sizin (“your”)	sininizin	sinlərinizin
onların (“their”)	sininin or sinlərinin	sinlərinin

Further reading

• Orucov, Əliheydər, editor (2006), “sin”, in Azərbaycan dilinin izahlı lüğəti [Explanatory Dictionary of the Azerbaijani Language]‎^[6] (in Azerbaijani), 2nd edition, volume 4, Baku: Şərq-Qərb, page 120

Breton

Etymology

From Latin signum.

Noun

sin m

1. sign

Cebuano

Etymology

From Spanish zinc, from German Zink, related to Zinke (“point, prong”), from Middle High German zinke, from Old High German zinko (“prong, tine”), allied to zint (“a jag, point”), from Proto-Germanic *tindaz (“prong, pinnacle”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃dónts (“tooth, projection”).

Noun

sin

1. zinc
2. galvanized iron sheet

Chavacano

Etymology

Inherited from Spanish sin (“without”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsin/, [ˈsĩn]

Preposition

sin

1. without

Cornish

Etymology 1

From Proto-Brythonic *suɨɣn, from Latin signum. Cognate with Welsh swyn.

Noun

sin m (plural sinyow or sinys)

1. sign

   Synonyms: arwodh, tokyn

2. mark

   Synonyms: merk, nos, stampa

3. signal

   Synonyms: arwodh, sinell

4. symptom

   Synonym: arwodh

Derived terms

• sina (“sign, signal”, verb)
• sinans (“signature”)
• sinell (“signal”)
• sinya (“indicate, signal”, verb)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English sine.

Noun

sin m (plural sinyow)

1. (mathematics) sine

Derived terms

• sindon (“sine wave”)
• sindonnel (“sinusoidal”)

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse sínn.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -in

Pronoun

sin c (neuter sit, plural sine)

1. (reflexive possessive) third-person sg pronoun, meaning his/her/its (own)

   Han læste sin bog ― He read his (own) book

   Compare: Han læste hans bog ― He read his (somebody else's) book

See also

Danish personal pronouns

Number	Person	Type	Nominative	Oblique	Possessive
					common	neuter	plural
Singular	First	–	jeg	mig	min	mit	mine
	Second	modern / informal	du	dig	din	dit	dine
		formal (uncommon)	De	Dem	Deres
	Third	masculine (person)	han	ham	hans
		feminine (person)	hun	hende	hendes
		common (noun)	den		dens
		neuter (noun)	det		dets
		indefinite	man	en	ens
		reflexive	–	sig	sin	sit	sine
Plural	First	modern	vi	os	vores
		archaic / formal			vor	vort	vore
	Second	–	I	jer	jeres
	Third	–	de	dem	deres
		reflexive	–	sig

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sin/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -in
• Syllabification: sin

Pronoun

sin

1. accusative of si

See also

Esperanto personal pronouns

		singular				plural
		nominative	accusative	possessive		nominative	accusative	possessive
first person		mi	min	mia		ni	nin	nia
second person	formal	vi	vin	via		vi	vin	via
	familiar1	ci	cin	cia
third person	masculine	li	lin	lia		ili iŝi2	ilin iŝin2	ilia iŝia2
	feminine	ŝi	ŝin	ŝia
	neuter	ĝi	ĝin	ĝia
	gender-neutral2	ri ŝli	rin ŝlin	ria ŝlia
	reflexive	si	sin	sia		si	sin	sia
indefinite		oni	onin	onia		oni	onin	onia

¹ Rare.

² Not widely used.

Fon

Sìn ɔ́

Etymology

Cognates include Gun sìn, Saxwe Gbe ɛsìn, Aja (West Africa) eshi, Ewe esti

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sĩ̀/

Noun

sìn

1. water

References

• Claire Lefebvre, Anne-Marie Brousseau, A Grammar of Fongbe (2002, →ISBN

Franco-Provençal

Alternative forms

• sio, sino

Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *seum. Doublet of son (possessive determiner).

Pronoun

sin (feminine singular sina, masculine plural sins, feminine plural sines) (ORB, broad)

1. his, her, its (third-person singular possessor)

See also

Franco-Provençal personal pronouns

			nominative	accusative	dative	tonic1	possessive2
singular	1st person		jo	mè			min
	2nd person		te	tè			tin
	3rd person	masculine	il	lo / le	lui		sin
		feminine	el	la	lyé
		neuter	o		y	—
		reflexive	—	sè
plural	1st person		nos				noutro
	2nd person		vos				voutro
	3rd person	masculine	ils	los / les	lor		lor
		feminine	els	les	lor / lyés
		reflexive	—	sè

¹ Disjunctive or object of a preposition.   ² Generally preceded by a definite article.

Gun

Sìn lọ́

Etymology 1

Cognates include Fon sìn, Saxwe Gbe ɛsìn, Aja (West Africa) eshi, Ewe esti. Possibly cognate with Nkonya ntsu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sĩ̀/

Noun

sìn (plural sìn lɛ́ or sìn lẹ́)

1. water

   Synonym: òsìn

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sĩ̀/

Particle

sín

1. comes after a noun to indicate that this noun possesses that which follows, much like English 's

   Gbẹ̀tọ́ sín àfọ̀ / Gbɛ̀tɔ́ sín àfɔ̀ ― The human's foot

References

• Aspect and Modality in Kwa Languages (2006, →ISBN)

Hausa

Etymology

From Arabic سِين (sīn).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sín/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [sɪ́ŋ]

Noun

sin f

1. sin (letter of the Arabic alphabet)

Hokkien

For pronunciation and definitions of sin – see 新 (“new; fresh; new; unused; etc.”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 新).

Hunsrik

Alternative forms

• sinn (Altenhofen spelling)

Etymology

From Middle High German sein, sīn, from Old High German sīn (“to be”) (with some parts from Proto-Germanic *wesaną (“to be”) and *beuną (“to be, exist, become”)), from Proto-Indo-European *es-, *h₁es- (“to be, exist”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsin/
• Rhymes: -in
• Syllabification: sin

Verb

sin

1. to be

   Ich sin en Mann.

   I am a man.

   Deer seid zu mied.

   You are too tired.

   Sie denke, dass-se en Hex is.

   They think she's a witch.

   All, wo dart waare, sin gestorreb.

   Everyone who was there died.

2. (auxiliary) forms the perfect tense of most intransitive verbs

   Ich sin fortgang.

   I am gone.

Inflection

Irregular with past tense, conditional and subjunctive mood

infinitive	sin
participle	gewees, geweest, geween
auxiliary	sin
	present indicative	past indicative	conditional	subjunctive	imperative
ich	sin	waar	wäär	sei	—
du	bist	waarst	wäärst	seist	sei
er/sie/es	is	waar	wäär	sei	—
meer	sin	waare	wääre	seie	—
deer	seid	waard	wäärd	seid	seid
sie	sin	waare	wääre	seie	—

The present participle is uncommonly used,
but can be made with the suffix -end.

Derived terms

• do sin

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse sin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɪːn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪːn

Noun

sin f (genitive singular sinar, nominative plural sinar)

1. sinew, tendon
2. (rare, slang) penis

Declension

Declension of sin (feminine)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	sin	sinin	sinar	sinarnar
accusative	sin	sinina	sinar	sinarnar
dative	sin	sininni	sinum	sinunum
genitive	sinar	sinarinnar	sina	sinanna

Irish

Alternative forms

• san

Etymology

From Middle Irish sin, from Old Irish sin. Doublet of an (“the”).

Pronunciation

• (Munster, Connacht) IPA^(key): /ʃɪnʲ/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ʃɨ̞nʲ/

Determiner

sin

1. (used with the definite article) that

   an buachaill sin ― that boy

Pronoun

sin

1. that

   Sin é mo dheartháir.

   That is my brother.

   • (Can we date this quote?), “Cad é sin don té sin [What is that to anyone]”‎^[7]:

     Ó cad é sin don té sin nach mbaineann sin dó?

     Oh what is that to him whom that doesn't concern?

Derived terms

• ó shin

Mutation

Mutated forms of sin

radical	lenition	eclipsis
sin	shin after an, tsin	not applicable

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “sin”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla [Irish–English Dictionary], Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931), Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry [Phonetics of an Irish dialect of Kerry] (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, page 67

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsin/
• Rhymes: -in
• Hyphenation: sìn

Preposition

sin

1. apocopic form of sino

Itsekiri

Etymology 1

Cognates include Ìjẹ̀bú Yoruba sẹ́n

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sĩ́/

Verb

sín

1. to be long

Etymology 2

Cognates include Yoruba sín, Olukumi ṣín, Owé Yoruba hín, Ìjẹ̀bú Yoruba sẹ́n, Ifè sɛ̃́

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sĩ́/

Verb

sín

1. to sneeze

Iu Mien

Etymology

From Chinese 身 (MC syin).

Noun

sin

1. body

Kabyle

Kabyle numbers ^(edit)

	20
←  1	2	3  →
Cardinal: sin

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Berber *ăssin, from Proto-Afroasiatic *čin (“two”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sin/

Numeral

sin m (feminine snat)

1. two

References

• Association Culturelle Numidya (2025), “Amawal, dictionnaire kabyle-français en ligne”, in Amawal‎^[8], retrieved 2025
• Dallet, Jean-Marie (1982), Dictionnaire kabyle-français: parler des At Mangellat, Algérie (in French), Paris, France

Kankanaey

Alternative forms

• hin

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsin/ [ˈsi̞n]
• (parts of Bauko, Sabangan and Tadian) IPA^(key): /ˈhin/ [ˈhi̞n]
• Rhymes: -in
• Syllabification: sin

Article

sin

1. oblique argument, specifically a common nominal definite marker

See also

• (oblique arguments) sin, si, sis, ed, en, en da

References

• Janet L. Allen (2014), Kankanaey: A Role and Reference Grammar Analysis‎^[9] (overall work in English), →ISBN, page 128

Ladino

Etymology

From Old Spanish sin, from Latin sine.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sin/

Preposition

sin (Hebrew spelling סין)

1. without

Antonyms

• kon

Latin

Etymology

From sī + nē.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈsiːn]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈsin]

Conjunction

sīn

1. if however, if on the contrary, but if

   sin aliter/minus/secus ― otherwise, if not

   • Nonne si bene egeris, recipies : sin autem male, statim in foribus peccatum aderit?

     If thou do well, shalt thou not receive? but if ill, shall not sin forthwith be present at the door? (Genesis 4:7, God speaking to Cain)

References

• sin in Enrico Olivetti, editor (2003-2026), Dizionario Latino, Olivetti Media Communication

Livonian

Pronoun

si’n

1. genitive/dative singular of sinā

Menien

Noun

sin

1. water

References

• Martius, Beiträge zur Ethnographie und Sprachenkunde Brasiliens, page 155

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch sin, from Proto-West Germanic *sinn.

Noun

sin m or f

1. direction
2. attention
3. sense, intellect, reason
4. feeling, emotion
5. sense, perception
6. meaning

Inflection

Strong masculine noun

	singular	plural
nominative	sin	sinne
accusative	sin	sinne
genitive	sins	sinne
dative	sinne	sinnen

Strong feminine noun

	singular	plural
nominative	sin	sinne
accusative	sin	sinne
genitive	sin, sinne	sinne
dative	sin, sinne	sinnen

Descendants

• Dutch: zin
  • Afrikaans: sin
  • Negerhollands: sin
• Limburgish: zin

Further reading

• “sin, sinne (I)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “sin (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I

Middle English

Etymology 1

Conjunction

sin

1. alternative form of sithen

Etymology 2

Noun

sin

1. alternative form of synne

Middle High German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (before 13^th CE) /ˈs̠iːn/

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old High German sīn, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *wesaną, derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti. Cognate with Middle Low German sīn.

Alternative forms

• wësen

Verb

sīn or wësen (irregular, third-person singular present ist, past tense was, past participle gewësen, past subjunctive wære, auxiliary sīn)

1. to be, become

Conjugation

Conjugation of sīn (irregular, auxiliary sīn)

infinitive		sīn wësen
genitive gerund		sīnnes sīnes wësennes wësenes
dative gerund		sīnne sīne wësenne wësene
present participle		sīnde wësende
past participle		gewësen
auxiliary		sīn
	indicative			subjunctive
	singular	plural		singular	plural
present	ich bin	wir birn	i	ich sī	wir sīn
	du bist	ir birt		du sīst	ir sīt
	ër ist	sie sint		ër sī	sie sīn
preterite	ich was	wir wāren	ii	ich wære	wir wæren
	du wære	ir wāret		du wærest	ir wæret
	ër was	sie wāren		ër wære	sie wæren
imperative	wis (du) bis (du)	sīt (ir)

Composed forms of sīn (irregular, auxiliary sīn)

perfect
	singular	plural		singular	plural
indicative	ich bin gewësen	wir birn gewësen	subjunctive	ich sī gewësen	wir sīn gewësen
	du bist gewësen	ir birt gewësen		du sīst gewësen	ir sīt gewësen
	ër ist gewësen	sie sint gewësen		ër sī gewësen	sie sīn gewësen
pluperfect
indicative	ich was gewësen	wir wāren gewësen	subjunctive	ich wære gewësen	wir wæren gewësen
	du wære gewësen	ir wāret gewësen		du wærest gewësen	ir wæret gewësen
	ër was gewësen	sie wāren gewësen		ër wære gewësen	sie wæren gewësen
future i
infinitive	sīn süln		subjunctive i	ich sul sīn	wir suln sīn
				du sule sīn	ir sulet sīn
				ër sul sīn	sie suln sīn
indicative	ich sol sīn	wir sulen sīn	subjunctive ii	ich sölte sīn ich sölde sīn	wir sölten sīn wir sölden sīn
	du solt sīn	ir sulet sīn		du söltest sīn du söldest sīn	ir söltet sīn ir söldet sīn
	ër sol sīn	sie sulen sīn		ër sölte sīn ër sölde sīn	sie sölten sīn sie sölden sīn
future ii
infinitive	gewësen sīn süln		subjunctive i	ich sul gewësen sīn	wir suln gewësen sīn
				du sule gewësen sīn	ir sulet gewësen sīn
				ër sul gewësen sīn	sie suln gewësen sīn
indicative	ich sol gewësen sīn	wir sulen gewësen sīn	subjunctive ii	ich sölte gewësen sīn ich sölde gewësen sīn	wir sölten gewësen sīn wir sölden gewësen sīn
	du solt gewësen sīn	ir sulet gewësen sīn		du söltest gewësen sīn du söldest gewësen sīn	ir söltet gewësen sīn ir söldet gewësen sīn
	ër sol gewësen sīn	sie sulen gewësen sīn		ër sölte gewësen sīn ër sölde gewësen sīn	sie sölten gewësen sīn sie sölden gewësen sīn

Descendants

• German: sein

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old High German sīn.

Determiner

sīn

1. his
2. its
3. one's

Descendants

• German: sein

References

• Benecke, Georg Friedrich; Müller, Wilhelm; Zarncke, Friedrich (1863), “sin”, in Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch: mit Benutzung des Nachlasses von Benecke, Stuttgart: S. Hirzel

Middle Irish

Alternative forms

• sein

Etymology

From Old Irish sin.

Determiner

sin

1. (used with the definite article) that
   • c. 1000, “The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig”, in Ernst Windisch, editor, Irische Texte, volume 1, published 1800, section 1:

     Is í sein int ṡeised bruiden ro·boi i n‑hErind in tan sin […]

     That is one of the six halls that were in Ireland at that time […]

Pronoun

sin

1. that
   • c. 1000, “The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig”, in Ernst Windisch, editor, Irische Texte, volume 1, published 1800, section 1:

     Is í sein int ṡeised bruiden ro·boi i n‑hErind in tan sin […]

     That is one of the six halls that were in Ireland at that time […]

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 sin”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Middle Low German

Pronunciation

• (originally) IPA^(key): /siːn/

Etymology 1

From Old Saxon sīn.

Pronoun

sîn

1. (personal pronoun, third person, in the singular, masculine, genitive) of his

   lohant ret her Zeno hen na Verona to dem vader sin.

   John rode Sir Zeno to Verona, to the father of his.

2. (personal pronoun, third person, in the singular, neuter, genitive) of it
3. (possessive, third person, in the singular, masculine) his
4. (possessive, third person, neuter, masculine) its

Declension

Personal pronoun:

Middle Low German personal pronouns

			nominative	accusative	dative	genitive
singular	1st person		ik (ek)	mî (mê, mik, mek)		mîn (mîner)
	2nd person		dû	dî (dê, dik, dek)		dîn (dîner)
	3rd person	m	hê (hî, hie)	ēne, en (ȫne, ȫn)	ēme, em (ȫme, en)	sîn (sîner)
		n	it (et)
		f	sê (sî, sie, sü̂)		ēre, ēr (ērer, ȫrer)
plural	1st person		wî (wê, wie)	uns (ûs, ös, ü̂sik)		unser (ûser)
	2nd person		gî (jê, î)	jû (jûwe, û, jük, gik)		jûwer (ûwer)
	3rd person		sê (sî, sie)		em, öm, jüm (en, ēnen, ȫnen)	ēre, ēr (ērer, ȫrer)

For an explanation of the forms in brackets see here.

Possessive pronoun:

Declension of sin

	singular			plural
	masculine	neuter	feminine
	Strong declension
nominative	sîn			sîne
accusative	sînen	sîn	sîne
dative	sînem(e) (sînennote)		sîner(e)	sînen
genitive	sînes			sîner(e)
	Weak declension
nominative	sîne			sînen
accusative	sînen	sîne	sînen
dative	sînen
genitive

The longer forms become rarer in the course of the period.

Alternative forms

• sîner (for the genitive of the personal pronoun)

Etymology 2

From Old Saxon sīn.

Alternative forms

• wēsen

Verb

sîn

1. to be

Usage notes

• Wēsen is a verb with a suppletive conjugation based on multiple Proto-Germanic stems. For many verb forms, authors freely chose between forms based on the stems wēs- and sî-, without semantic impact. This is also true for modern Low German and Dutch. For the forms based on the sî- stem, see the respective entry at wēsen.

Descendants

• German Low German:

  Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch: sin (past participle: west, also wesen)

  Westphalian:

  Münsterländisch: syn (past participle: weßt), sien (past participle: west)

  Paderbornisch: seyn, syn (past participle: wiäsen)

Miskito

Adverb

sin

1. also, too

Navajo

Etymology

From Proto-Athabaskan *xʸən (“shaman's power, medicine, song”). Related to -YĮĮD (“to be holy”), from Proto-Athabaskan *ɣyən (“to act as a shaman, to be endowed with supernatural powers”).

Compare Ahtna sen (“spiritual power, medicine”), Koyukon sən (“shaman's spirit”), Gwich'in shan (“shamanism, magic”), Tlingit at shí (“singing”) (verbal noun), Eyak tsį, Dena'ina shen, Galice šan (“song”), Lipan shį̀.

Has been compared with Ket сенаӈ (sʲɛ́naŋ, “shaman”), via Proto-Yeniseian *-xejn (“to shamanize”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɪ̀n/

Noun

sin (possessed form biyiin)

1. song

Inflection

Possessives of sin

	singular	duoplural	plural
1st person	shiyiin	nihiyiin	danihiyiin
2nd person	niyiin	nihiyiin	danihiyiin
3rd person	biyiin
4th person (3o)	yiyiin
4th person (3a)	hayiin
Indefinite (3i)	ayiin

North Frisian

Determiner

sin

1. (Sylt) his (third-person singular masculine possessive determiner)
2. (Sylt) its (third-person singular neuterpossessive determiner)
3. (Föhr-Amrum, Mooring) feminine/neuter/plural of san (“his, its”, Föhr-Amrum also “her”)

Pronoun

sin (plural (Sylt) sinen)

1. (Sylt) his (third-person singular masculine possessive pronoun)
2. (Sylt) its (third-person singular neuterpossessive pronoun)
3. (Föhr-Amrum) feminine/neuter of san (“his, hers, its”)
4. (Mooring) feminine/neuter/plural of san (“his, its”)

See also

Personal and possessive pronouns (Föhr-Amrum dialect)

			personal					possessive
			subject case		object case			masculine referent	feminine / neuter referent	plural referent
			full	reduced	full	reduced				attributive	independent
singular	1st		ik	'k	mi			man	min		minen
	2nd		dü	–	di			dan	din		dinen
	3rd	m	hi	'r	ham	'n		san	sin		sinen
		f or n	hat	at, 't		at, 't
plural	1st		wi	'f	üs			üüs			üüsen
								üsens
	2nd		jam	'm	jam			jau			jauen
								jamens
	3rd		jo	's	jo	's		hör			hören
								hörens

• The reduced forms with an apostrophe are enclitic; they immediately follow verbs or conjunctions. Dü is deleted altogether in such contexts.
• At is not enclitic; it can stand in any unstressed position and refers mostly to things. In reflexive use, only full object forms occur.
• Dual forms wat / onk and jat / jonk are obsolete, as is feminine jü / hör.
• Independent possessives are distinguished from attributive ones only with plural referents.
• The forms üsens, jamens, hörens are used optionally (and decreasingly) when the possessor is a larger community, such as a village, city or nation.

Personal and possessive pronouns (Mooring dialect)

			personal					possessive
			subject case		object case			masculine referent	feminine / neuter / plural referent
			full	reduced	full	reduced
singular	1st		ik	'k	me			man	min
	2nd		dü	–	de			dan	din
	3rd	m	hi	'r	ham	'n		san	sin
		f	jü	's	har	's		harn	har
		n	hat	et, 't	ham	et, 't		san	sin
plural	1st		we		üs			üüsen	üüs
	2nd		jam	'm	jam			jarnge
	3rd		ja	's	ja, jam	's		jare

The reduced forms with an apostrophe are enclitic; they immediately follow verbs or conjunctions. Dü is deleted altogether in such contexts.
Et is not enclitic and can stand in any unstressed position; the full subject form hat is now rarely used. In reflexive use, only full object forms occur.
Dual forms wat / unk and jat / junk are obsolete. Attributive and independent possessives are not distinguished in Mooring.

Personal and possessive pronouns (Sylt dialect)

			personal					possessive
			subject case		object case			singular referent	plural referent
			full	reduced	full	reduced			attributive	independent
singular	1st		ik	'k	mi			min		minen
	2nd		dü	–	di			din		dinen
	3rd	m	hi	'r	höm	'n		sin		sinen
		f	jü	's	höör	's		höör		höören
		n	hat	et, 't	höm	et, 't		sin		sinen
dual	1st		wat		unk		unk		unken
	2nd		at		junk		junk		junken
	3rd		jat		jam	's	jaar		jaaren
plural	1st		wü		üüs		üüs		üüsen
	2nd		i		juu		juu		juuen
	3rd		ja	's	jam	's	jaar		jaaren

• The reduced forms with an apostrophe are enclitic; they immediately follow verbs or conjunctions. Dü is deleted altogether in such contexts.
• Et is not enclitic and can stand in any unstressed position; the full subject form hat is now rarely used. In reflexive use, only full object forms occur.
• The dual forms are dated, but not obsolete as in other dialects.
• Independent possessives are distinguished from attributive ones only with plural referents.

Northern Sami

Pronunciation

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈsiːn/

Pronoun

sīn

1. accusative/genitive of sii

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse sinn.

Determiner

sin m (feminine si, neuter sitt, plural sine)

1. (reflexive pronoun) her / his / its / their
2. indicating possession; 's, of

   Det var skolen sin bil.

   It was the school's car.

See also

Norwegian Bokmål personal pronouns

Number	Person	Type	Nominative	Oblique	Possessive
					feminine	masculine	neuter	plural
Singular	First	–	jeg	meg	mi	min	mitt	mine
	Second	general	du	deg	di	din	ditt	dine
		formal (rare)	De	Dem	Deres
	Third	feminine (person)	hun	henne	hennes
		masculine (person)	han	ham / han	hans
		feminine (noun)	den		dens
		masculine (noun)
		neuter (noun)	det		dets
		reflexive	–	seg	si	sin	sitt	sine
Plural	First	–	vi	oss	vår		vårt	våre
	Second	general	dere		deres
		formal (very rare)	De	Dem	Deres
	Third	general	de	dem	deres
		reflexive	–	seg	si	sin	sitt	sine

References

• “sin” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse sinn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɪnː/
• Homophone: sinn

Determiner

sin (masculine sin, feminine si, neuter sitt, plural sine)

1. (reflexive pronoun) her/his/its/their
2. indicating possession; 's, of

   Det var skulen sin bil.

   It was the school’s car.

References

• “sin” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *sīn.

Determiner

sīn

1. his, its, hers

Inflection

Declension of sin

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	sīn	sīn	sīn
accusative	sīnin	sīna	sīn
genitive	sīnis	sīnro	sīnis
dative	sīnin	sīnro	sīnin
instrumental	sīnin	sīnro	sīnin
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	sīna	sīna	sīna
accusative	sīna	sīna	sīna
genitive	sīnro	sīnro	sīnro
dative	sīnon	sīnon	sīnon
instrumental	sīn-	sīn-	sīn-

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: sijn
  • Dutch: zijn
  • Limburgish: zeen

Further reading

• “sīn (II)”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *sīn (“his, her, its, their”, genitive reflexive).

Cognate with Old Frisian sīn (“his, its”), Old Saxon sīn (“his”) (Middle Low German sin), Dutch zijn, Old High German sīn (“his”) (German sein), Old Norse sínn (“one's own”), Old English sē (“that, that one, he”). More at the.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /siːn/

Pronoun

sīn

1. (rare, chiefly dialectal, reflexive possessive pronoun) his; her; its; their
   • him ġewāt Hrōþgār tō hofe sīnum ― For him Hrothgar went to his courtyard
   • þæt wīf tredeð mid sīnum fōtum ― The woman walks with her feet
   • þeċ heriað Israhēla, herran sīnne ― Israel plunders you, their lord
   • Bær sēo brimwylf hringa þengel tō hofe sīnum ― The sea-wolf carried the Prince of Rings to her lair

Usage notes

• Usually occurs in non-West Saxon dialects; rarely occurs in West Saxon prose, where it was replaced early on by the genitive forms: his, hire, and heora.

Declension

Declension of sīn — Strong only

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	sīn	sīn	sīn
Accusative	sīnne	sīne	sīn
Genitive	sīnes	sīnre	sīnes
Dative	sīnum	sīnre	sīnum
Instrumental	sīne	sīnre	sīne
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	sīne	sīna, sīne	sīn
Accusative	sīne	sīna, sīne	sīn
Genitive	sīnra	sīnra	sīnra
Dative	sīnum	sīnum	sīnum
Instrumental	sīnum	sīnum	sīnum

Old Frisian

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *sīn (“his, her, its, their”, genitive reflexive).

Cognate with Old English sīn (“his, her, its, their”), Old Saxon sīn (“his”) (Middle Low German sin), Dutch zijn, Old High German sīn (“his”) (German sein), Old Norse sínn (“one's own”), Old English sē (“that, that one, he”).

Determiner

sīn

1. his
2. its

Declension

Declension of sīn — Strong only

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	sīn	sīn, sīne	sīn
Accusative	sīnene, sīnne	sīne	sīn
Genitive	sīnes	sīnere, sīnre	sīnes
Dative	sīne	sīnere, sīnre	sīne
Plural
Nominative		sīne
Accusative		sīne
Genitive		sīnera, sīnra
Dative		sīne

Descendants

• Saterland Frisian: sin
• West Frisian: syn

Pronoun

sīn

1. genitive of hī: his
2. genitive of hit: its

Declension

Old Frisian personal pronoun declensions

			nominative	accusative	dative	genitive
singular	1st person		ik	mī	mī	mīn
	2nd person		thū	thī	thī	thīn
	3rd person	m	hī	hine	him	sīn
		f	hiū, hiō	hiā	hire, hiāre	hire, hiāre
		n	hit	hit	him	sīn
plural	1st person		wī	ūs	ūs	ūser
	2nd person		jī	jū, jō	jū, jō	jūwer
	3rd person		hiā	hiā	him, hirem, hiārem	hira, hiāra

Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *sinn.

Noun

sin m

1. sense
2. mind
3. spirit
4. thought
5. intention

Declension

Declension of sin (masculine a-stem)

case	singular	plural
nominative	sin	sinā, sina
accusative	sin	sinā, sina
genitive	sines	sino
dative	sine	sinum
instrumental	sinu	—

Synonyms

• sens

Descendants

• Middle High German: sin
  • German: Sinn
  • Luxembourgish: Sënn
  • Yiddish: זין (zin)

References

• Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch‎^[10] (in German), 6th edition

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *sindos (compare Welsh hyn), from Proto-Indo-European *sḗm (“one”) or *só (“that”); strong doublet of in (“the”).

Determiner

sin

1. that, those (used after the noun, which is preceded by the definite article)

   Synonym: tall

   • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 14^c23

     co beid .i. co mbed a ndéde sin im labrad-sa .i. gáu et fír .i. combad sain a n‑as·berin ó bélib et aní imme·rádin ó chridiu

     so that there may be, i.e. so that those two things might be in my speaking, namely false and true, i.e. so that what I might say with [my] lips and what I might think with [my] heart might be different

   • c. 845, St Gall Glosses on Priscian, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1975, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. II, pp. 49–224, Sg. 26^b7

     De dliguth trá inna n-il-toimdden sin, is de gaibthi “igitur”; quasi dixisset “Ní fail ní nád taí mo dligeth-sa fair i ndegaid na comroircnech.”

     Of the law then, of those many opinions, it is thereof that he recites “igitur”; as if he had said, “There is nothing which my law does not touch upon after the erroneous ones.

Derived terms

• ísin

Descendants

• Irish: sin
• Scottish Gaelic: sin
• Manx: shen

Pronoun

sin

1. that (as a direct object, used together with a clitic pronoun)
   • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 14^d26

     Is i persin Crist da·gníu-sa sin.

     It is in the person of Christ that I do that.

Derived terms

• insin

Old Norse

Alternative forms

• sina

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *senawō.

Noun

sin f (genitive sinar)

1. cord, tendon, sinew; nerve

Further reading

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), “sin”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive

Old Saxon

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *sīn.

Determiner

sīn m or n

1. (dialectal, reflexive possessive pronoun) his, its
   • 9th c. Heliand, verse 178:

     uundrodun alla bihuuī he thar sō lango frāon sīnun thionon thorfti

     they all wondered who he should need for so long to serve his Lords

   • verse 3832:

     selliad, that thar sīn ist: that sculun iuuua seolon uuesen

     Bring that which is his, that shall be your souls

Declension

Declension of sīn

Strong declension
	singular			plural
	masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative	sīn	sīn	sīn	sīne	sīnu	sīne
accusative	sīnana	sīn	sīna	sīne	sīnu	sīne
genitive	sīnes	sīnes	sīnaro	sīnarō	sīnarō	sīnarō
dative	sīnumu	sīnumu	sīnaro	sīnum	sīnum	sīnum
Weak declension
	singular			plural
	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative	sīno	sīna	sīna	sīnu
accusative	sīnun	sīna	sīnun	sīnun
genitive	sīnun	sīnun	sīnun	sīnonō
dative	sīnun	sīnun	sīnun	sīnum

Descendants

• Low German: sien

See also

Old Saxon personal pronouns

			nominative	accusative	dative	genitive
singular	1st person		ik	mī, me, mik	mī	mīn
	2nd person		thū	thī, thik	thī	thīn
	3rd person	m	hē	ina	imu	is
		f	siu	sia	iru	ira
		n	it		it	is
dual	1st person		wit	unk		unkero, unka
	2nd person		git	ink		inker, inka
plural	1st person		wī, we	ūs, unsik	ūs	ūser
	2nd person		gī, ge	eu, iu, iuu		euwar, iuwer, iuwar, iuwero, iuwera
	3rd person	m	sia		im	iro
		f	sia
		n	siu

Etymology 2

From Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be, exist”) (with some parts from Proto-Germanic *wesaną (“to be”)). Cognate with Old Dutch sīn (“to be”), Old English sēon (“to be”), Old High German sīn. More at sooth.

Verb

sīn (irregular)

1. to be (more at wesan)

Conjugation

Conjugation of sīn (irregular, suppletive)

infinitive	sīn
indicative	present	past
1st person singular	*em, *im	was
2nd person singular	*art	*wāri
3rd person singular	ist, is	was
plural	sind, sindun, *arun	wārun
subjunctive	present	past
1st person singular	sī	wāri
2nd person singular	sīs	wāris
3rd person singular	sī	wāri
plural	sīn	wārin
imperative	present
singular	wes, wis
plural	wesad, wesat, wesath
participle	present	past
	wesandi	giwesan

Descendants

• Low German: sön, sennen

Old Spanish

Etymology

From Latin sine.

Preposition

sin

1. without
   • c. 1200, Cantar del Mio Cid:

     Vio puertas abiertas e uços sin cannados

     He saw open doors and gates without locks

Antonyms

• con

Descendants

• Ladino: sin
• Spanish: sin

Old Swedish

Etymology

Old Norse sínn, sinn from Proto-Germanic *sīnaz.

Determiner

sin

1. (Reflexive possessive third person determiner.) his (own), her (own), its (own), their (own)

Picard

Pronoun

sin m

1. his, hers or its

Pichinglis

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish sin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sìn/

Preposition

sin

1. without

   Synonym: bitáwt

References

• Kofi Yakpo (2019), A grammar of Pichi (Studies in Diversity Linguistics; 23)‎^[11], Berlin: Language Science Press, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 574

Romanian

Etymology

From Old Church Slavonic сꙑнъ (synŭ), from Proto-Slavic *synъ (“son”).

Noun

sin m (uncountable)

1. (dated, regional) son of (in patronymics)

Declension

singular only	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	sin	sinul
genitive-dative	sin	sinului
vocative	sinule

Saterland Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian sīn, from Proto-West Germanic *sīn. Cognates include West Frisian syn and German sein.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɪn/

Determiner

sin (feminine sien, neuter sien, plural sien, predicative sinnen)

1. his

See also

Saterland Frisian possessives

			possessive determiners			possessive pronouns
			masculine referent	other referent		masculine referent	other referent
singular	1st		min	mien		minnen	mienen
	2nd		din	dien		dinnen	dienen
	3rd	m or n	sin	sien		sinnen	sienen
		f	hiere			hierens
plural	1st		uus			uzen
	2nd		jou			jouens
	3rd		hiere			hierens

References

• Marron C. Fort (2015), “sin”, in Saterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske, →ISBN

Scottish Gaelic

Alternative forms

• (Uist) sineach

Etymology

From Middle Irish [Term?], from Old Irish sin. Cognates include Irish sin and Manx shen.

Pronunciation

• (Lochs, much of Skye, Wester Ross) IPA^(key): /ʃĩn/
• (Bernera, Harris, North Uist) IPA^(key): /ʃɛ̃n/ (as if spelled sean)
• (South Uist, Barra, Islay) IPA^(key): /ʃĩɲ/
• (Sleat) IPA^(key): /ʃʏ̃n/

Pronoun

sin

1. that

   Dè tha sin? ― What is that?

Usage notes

• With the definite article, used as a determiner:

  an gille sin ― that boy (literally, “the boy that”)

Derived terms

• air a shon sin (“nevertheless”)
• an dèidh sin (“afterwards”)
• an sin (“there”)
• cho math ri sin (“furthermore”)
• iad sin (“those”)
• mar sin

See also

Scottish Gaelic demonstratives

	pronoun	adverb
proximal	seo	an seo
medial	sin	an sin
distal	siud	an siud

Further reading

• Mark, Colin (2003), “sin”, in The Gaelic–English dictionary, London: Routledge, →ISBN, page 526

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *synъ, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *sū́ˀnus, from Proto-Indo-European *suHnús.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sîːn/

Noun

sȋn m anim (Cyrillic spelling си̑н)

1. son

Declension

Declension of sin

	singular	plural
nominative	sȋn	sȉnovi
genitive	sȋna	sinóvā
dative	sȋnu	sinòvima
accusative	sȋna	sȉnove
vocative	sȋne	sȉnovi
locative	sȋnu	sinòvima
instrumental	sȋnom	sinòvima

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Hebrew ש.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sîn/

Noun

sȉn m inan (Cyrillic spelling си̏н)

1. sin (letter of various Semitic abjads)

Declension

Declension of sin

	singular	plural
nominative	sin	sini
genitive	sina	sina
dative	sinu	sinima
accusative	sina	sine
vocative	sine	sini
locative	sinu	sinima
instrumental	sinom	sinima

Slovene

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *synъ, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *sū́ˀnus, from Proto-Indo-European *suHnús. First attested in the 10th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /síːn/

Noun

sȋn m anim

1. son

Declension

Declension of sin
nom. sing.	sin
gen. sing.	sina
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	sin	sinova	sinovi
accusative	sin / sinu	sinova	sinove
genitive	sina	sinov	sinov
dative	sinu	sinovoma	sinovom
locative	sinu	sinovih	sinovih
instrumental	sinom	sinovoma	sinovi

Further reading

• “sin”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2026

Spanish

Etymology

From Old Spanish sin, from Latin sine. Cognate with English sans, French sans, Italian senza, and Portuguese sem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsin/ [ˈsĩn]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -in
• Syllabification: sin

Preposition

sin

1. without

   Antonym: con

   • 2021 July 21, Juan Garzon, “Los mejores celulares Android de 2021”, in CNN en Español‎^[12]:

     De cierta manera, el Galaxy S21 ofrece un mejor balance de todo lo que ofrece y su precio, y, por eso, debería ser en muchas ocasiones la primera opción para considerar para la mayoría de personas que quieren un celular Android y no quieren necesariamente lo mejor de lo mejor sin importar su costo.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

• barril sin fondo
• organización sin fines de lucro
• sin cuartel
• sin cuidado
• sin demora
• sin duda
• sin embargo
• sin falta
• sin igual
• sin ir más lejos
• sin más preámbulos
• sin novedad
• sin oficio ni beneficio
• sin otro particular
• sin papeles
• sin pena ni gloria
• sin pies ni cabeza
• sin respiración
• sin rumbo
• sin tiempo
• sin ton ni son
• sin un cinco
• tornillo sin fin

Further reading

• “sin”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swedish

Alternative forms

• ſin (obsolete typography)

Etymology 1

Nominalisation of sina (“run dry”).

Noun

sin ?

1. Dryness, the state of having run dry.

Usage notes

Most commonly used when referring to either milk or funds.

Etymology 2

From Old Swedish sīn, from Old Norse sínn, from Proto-Germanic *sīnaz. Cognate with Danish sin, Gothic 𐍃𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (seins), German sein, Dutch zijn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /siːn/

Pronoun

sin c (neuter sitt, plural sina)

1. his (own), her (own), its (own), their (own). (Reflexive possessive third person pronoun)
   • 1974, Lasse Tennander, “Ska vi gå hem till dig [Shall We Go to Your Place ["home to you" – idiomatic]]”, in Allting som ni gör kan jag göra bättre [Anything You Do, I Can Do Better [a cover album]]‎^[13], performed by Magnus Uggla:

     Ska vi gå hem till dig eller hem till mig, eller var och en hem till sitt? Ska vi göra som dom andra och ägna oss åt varandra, eller ska var och en sköta sitt?

     Shall we go to your place ["home to you" – idiomatic] or to my place [home to me], or each one ["each and one" – idiomatic] home to theirs [nominalized – neuter gender is used when there is no concrete referent, like in impersonal constructions and here, as a rule of thumb]? Shall we do like the others and spend time on each other [engage in each other as an activity – doesn't have the connotations of "devote"], or shall each one mind [take care of] theirs [nominalized]?

   Han hämtade sin post för tio minuter sedan.

   He picked up his (own) mail ten minutes ago.

   Compare:

   Han hämtade hans post för tio minuter sedan.

   He picked up his (somebody else’s) mail ten minutes ago.

   Hon samlar sina dikter i en låda.

   She collects her poems in a box.

   Hunden tycker inte om sitt halsband.

   The dog doesn’t like its collar.

   De tog sina papper och lämnade mötet.

   They gathered their papers and left the meeting.

Usage notes

• The inflection of the word sin is determined by the gender and number of the object: sin for common singular, sitt for neuter singular, and sina for plural, just like an adjective.

Declension

Swedish personal pronouns

Number	Person		nominative	oblique	possessive
					common	neuter	plural
singular	first	—	jag	mig, mej3	min	mitt	mina
	second	—	du	dig, dej3	din	ditt	dina
	third	masculine (person)	han	honom, han2, en5	hans
		feminine (person)	hon	henne, na5	hennes
		gender-neutral (person)1	hen	hen, henom7	hens
		common (noun)	den	den	dess
		neuter (noun)	det	det	dess
		indefinite	man or en4	en	ens
		reflexive	—	sig, sej3	sin	sitt	sina
plural	first	—	vi	oss	vår, våran2	vårt, vårat2	våra
	second	—	ni	er	er, eran2, ers6	ert, erat2	era
		archaic	I	eder	eder, eders6	edert	edra
	third	—	de, dom3	dem, dom3	deras
		reflexive	—	sig, sej3	sin	sitt	sina

¹Neologism. Usage has increased since 2010, though it remains limited.

²Informal

³Colloquial pronunciation spelling.

⁴Dialectal, also used lately as an alternative to man, to avoid association to the male gender.

⁵Informal, somewhat dialectal

⁶Formal address

⁷Discouraged by the Swedish Language Council

References

• “sin”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “sin”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “sin”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Tashelhit

Tashelhit numbers ^(edit)

	20
←  1	2	3  →
Cardinal: sin     Ordinal: wiss sin

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Berber *ăssin (“two”), from Proto-Afroasiatic *čin (“two”).

Cognate with Zenaga šin (“two”), Northern Saharan Berber and Nefusa sen (“two”), Tuareg əssin (“two”), Ghadames sǝn (“two”), Tetserret ǝššin (“two”), Proto-Semitic *ṯin- and Egyptian snwj.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sin/

Numeral

sin m (feminine snat, Tifinagh spelling ⵙⵉⵏ, Arabic spelling سين)

1. two

   ايفولكي بدّا واتاي ايغ سرس نڭا سين؛ ايمّا كراض ولا سمّوس،اور سول يڭي اتاي

   ifulki bdda watay iġ srs nga sin; imma kraḍ ula smmus, ur sul igi atay.

   tea, for two of us is always sweet;but if we are three or five , it is no longer tea.

   سنات تغاوسيوين يس ڭانت تايتماتين، نڭادّانت.

   snat tġawsiwin is gant taytmatin, ngaddant.

   two things that are similar are the same.

See also

Tashelhit cardinal numbers from 0 to 99

	—0	—1	—2	—3	—4	—5	—6	—7	—8	—9
0—	ṣifr	yan	sin	kraḍ	kkuẓ	smmus	sḍis	sa	tam	tẓa
10—	mraw	yan d mraw	sin d mraw	kraḍ d mraw	kkuẓ d mraw	smmus d mraw	sḍis d mraw	sa d mraw	tam d mraw	tẓa d mraw
20—	ɛcrin	ɛcrin d yan	ɛcrin d sin	ɛcrin d kraḍ	ɛcrin d kkuẓ	ɛcrin d smmus	ɛcrin d sḍis	ɛcrin d sa	ɛcrin d tam	ɛcrin d tẓa
30—	ɛcrin d mraw	ɛcrin d yan d mraw	ɛcrin d sin d mraw	ɛcrin d kraḍ d mraw	ɛcrin d kkuẓ d mraw	ɛcrin d smmus d mraw	ɛcrin d sḍis d mraw	ɛcrin d sa d mraw	ɛcrin d tam d mraw	ɛcrin d tẓa d mraw
40—	sin idaw ɛcrin	sin idaw ɛcrin d yan	sin idaw ɛcrin d sin	sin idaw ɛcrin d kraḍ	sin idaw ɛcrin d kkuẓ	sin idaw ɛcrin d smmus	sin idaw ɛcrin d sḍis	sin idaw ɛcrin d sa	sin idaw ɛcrin d tam	sin idaw ɛcrin d tẓa
50—	sin idaw ɛcrin d mraw	sin idaw ɛcrin d yan d mraw	sin idaw ɛcrin d sin d mraw	sin idaw ɛcrin d kraḍ d mraw	sin idaw ɛcrin d kkuẓ d mraw	sin idaw ɛcrin d smmus d mraw	sin idaw ɛcrin d sḍis d mraw	sin idaw ɛcrin d sa d mraw	sin idaw ɛcrin d tam d mraw	sin idaw ɛcrin d tẓa d mraw
60—	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d yan	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d sin	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d kraḍ	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d kkuẓ	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d smmus	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d sḍis	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d sa	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d tam	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d tẓa
70—	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d mraw	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d yan d mraw	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d sin d mraw	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d kraḍ d mraw	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d kkuẓ d mraw	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d smmus d mraw	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d sḍis d mraw	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d sa d mraw	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d tam d mraw	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d tẓa d mraw
80—	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d yan	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d sin	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d kraḍ	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d kkuẓ	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d smmus	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d sḍis	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d sa	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d tam	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d tẓa
90—	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d mraw	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d yan d mraw	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d sin d mraw	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d kraḍ d mraw	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d kkuẓ d mraw	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d smmus d mraw	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d sḍis d mraw	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d sa d mraw	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d tam d mraw	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d tẓa d mraw

References

• Stroomer, Harry (2025), Dictionnaire berbère tachelḥiyt-français — Tome 3 m—š (Handbook of Oriental Studies – Handbuch der Orientalistik; 188/3) (in French), Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, →DOI, →ISBN, page 1980a

Tatar

Pronoun

sin

1. you (singular), thou

Turkish

Etymology 1

From Proto-Turkic *sï(y)n (“monument, tomb”).

Noun

sin (definite accusative sini, plural sinler)

1. (dated) grave, burial place

Inflection

Declension of sin

	singular	plural
nominative	sin	sinler
definite accusative	sini	sinleri
dative	sine	sinlere
locative	sinde	sinlerde
ablative	sinden	sinlerden
genitive	sinin	sinlerin

Etymology 2

From Arabic سِين (sīn).

Noun

sin

1. Letter of the Arabic alphabet: س

Uzbek

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic سِين (sīn).

Noun

sin (plural sinlar)

1. the Arabic letter س

Declension

Declension of sin

	singular	plural
nominative	sin	sinlar
genitive	sinning	sinlarning
dative	singa	sinlarga
definite accusative	sinni	sinlarni
locative	sinda	sinlarda
ablative	sindan	sinlardan
similative	sindek	sinlardek

Possessive forms of sin

1st person singular
	singular	plural
nominative	sinim	sinlarim
genitive	sinimning	sinlarimning
dative	sinimga	sinlarimga
definite accusative	sinimni	sinlarimni
locative	sinimda	sinlarimda
ablative	sinimdan	sinlarimdan
similative	sinimdek	sinlarimdek
2nd person singular
	singular	plural
nominative	sining	sinlaring
genitive	siningning	sinlaringning
dative	siningga	sinlaringga
definite accusative	siningni	sinlaringni
locative	siningda	sinlaringda
ablative	siningdan	sinlaringdan
similative	siningdek	sinlaringdek
3rd person singular
	singular	plural
nominative	sini	sinlari
genitive	sinining	sinlarining
dative	siniga	sinlariga
definite accusative	sinini	sinlarini
locative	sinida	sinlarida
ablative	sinidan	sinlaridan
similative	sinidek	sinlaridek
1st person plural
	singular	plural
nominative	sinimiz	sinlarimiz
genitive	sinimizning	sinlarimizning
dative	sinimizga	sinlarimizga
definite accusative	sinimizni	sinlarimizni
locative	sinimizda	sinlarimizda
ablative	sinimizdan	sinlarimizdan
similative	sinimizdek	sinlarimizdek
2nd person plural
	singular	plural
nominative	siningiz	sinlaringiz
genitive	siningizning	sinlaringizning
dative	siningizga	sinlaringizga
definite accusative	siningizni	sinlaringizni
locative	siningizda	sinlaringizda
ablative	siningizdan	sinlaringizdan
similative	siningizdek	sinlaringizdek
3rd person plural
	singular	plural
nominative	sini	sinlari
genitive	sinining	sinlarining
dative	siniga	sinlariga
definite accusative	sinini	sinlarini
locative	sinida	sinlarida
ablative	sinidan	sinlaridan
similative	sinidek	sinlaridek

Vietnamese

Etymology

From translingual sin, from English sine, from Latin sinus.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [sin˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʂin˧˧] ~ [sin˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʂɨn˧˧] ~ [sɨn˧˧]

Noun

sin

1. (trigonometry) sine

   Sin đi học. Cos không hư. Tang đoàn kết. Cotang kết đoàn.

   SOH-CAH-TOA

   (literally, “Sine goes to school. Cosine isn't naughty. Tangent unifies. Cotangent does too.”)

See also

• cosin

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /siːn/
• Rhymes: -iːn

Etymology 1

From English scene, from Middle French scene, from Latin scaena, scēna, from Ancient Greek σκηνή (skēnḗ, “scene, stage”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃ih₂, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃- (“darkness, shadow”). Doublet of cysgod (“shade, shadow”).

Noun

sin f (plural sinau, not mutable)

1. scene (social environment)

   y sin bop Gymraeg ― the Welsh-language pop scene

Etymology 2

From English sine, from Latin sinus (“curve, bend; bosom”), a translation of Arabic جَيْب (jayb, “bosom”), from Sanskrit ज्या (jyā, “sine, chord, bowstring”) through Sanskrit जीव (jīva, “sine, chord, life, existence”). Doublet of sinws (“sinus”).

Noun

sin m (plural sinau, not mutable)

1. (trigonometry, differential geometry) sine

Related terms

• trigonometreg (“trigonometry”)
• cosin (“cosine”)
• tangiad (“tangent”)

Etymology 3

From Middle English sine, from Old French signe, from Latin signum, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut”) or *sekʷ- (“to follow”); Doublet of sygn (“astrological sign”).

Alternative forms

• sein

Noun

sin m (plural sinau, not mutable)

1. (obsolete) sign

   Synonym: arwydd

2. (obsolete) symbol

   Synonym: symbol

3. (obsolete) emblem

   Synonym: arwyddlun

References

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “sin”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “sin”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian sinn, from Proto-West Germanic *sinn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɪn/

Noun

sin c (plural sinnen, diminutive sintsje)

1. sentence (syntactic unit containing a subject and a predicate)
2. sense (means of experiencing the external world)
3. meaning, sense, significance

Further reading

• “sin”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

Noun

sin n (plural sinnen, diminutive sintsje)

1. mood
2. opinion, view

Further reading

• “sin”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

Yoruba

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sĩ̀/

Verb

sìn

1. (transitive) to worship a deity; to revere
2. (transitive) to serve

Usage notes

• sin before a direct object

Derived terms

• ẹ̀sìn (“religion”)
• ìsìn (“religious worship”)

Related terms

• bọ (“to worship; to sacrifice to a divinity”)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sĩ̀/

Verb

sìn

1. (transitive) to domesticate an animal or plant

Usage notes

• sin before a direct object

Derived terms

• ọ̀sìn (“domestication”)

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sĩ̀/

Verb

sìn

1. (transitive) to give a girl away in marriage

Usage notes

• sin before a direct object

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sĩ̀/

Verb

sìn

1. (transitive) to accompany or escort someone; to keep company of someone; to guide

Usage notes

• sin before a direct object

Derived terms

• ìsìn

Etymology 5

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sĩ̀/

Verb

sìn

1. (transitive) to serve, to work for someone

Usage notes

• sin before a direct object

Derived terms

• ìsìn (“servitude”)

Etymology 6

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sĩ̀/

Verb

sìn

1. (transitive) to demand something from someone to recover it

Usage notes

• sin before a direct object

Derived terms

• ìsìn

Etymology 7

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sĩ̄/

Verb

sin

1. (transitive) to bury in soil

Derived terms

• sìnkú (“to bury the dead”)
• ìsin (“burial”)

Etymology 8

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sĩ̄/

Verb

sin

1. (transitive) to lie hidden, to remain secret

   ọ̀rọ̀ náà sin ― the matter remains secret

Etymology 9

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sĩ́/

Verb

sín

1. (transitive, usually with gbẹ́rẹ́) to incise the body (usually in the process of traditional rituals)

   Synonym: síngbẹ́rẹ́

Derived terms

• ìsíngbẹ́rẹ́ (“scarification”)

Etymology 10

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sĩ́/

Verb

sín

1. (intransitive) to sneeze

Derived terms

• ìsín (“the act of sneezing”)

Etymology 11

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sĩ́/

Verb

sín

1. (intransitive) to string or piece things together

   Synonym: sò

Derived terms

• ìsín

Etymology 12

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sĩ́/

Verb

sín

1. (intransitive) to crack a nut (to reach the inner seed or kernel)

Derived terms

• ìsín
• sínkùrọ́

Zhuang

Etymology

From Chinese 辛 (MC sin).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Zhuang) IPA^(key): /θin˨˦/
• Tone numbers: sin¹
• Hyphenation: sin

Noun

sin (Sawndip form 辛, 1957–1982 spelling sin)

1. the eighth of the ten heavenly stems

See also

Chinese heavenly stems: dienganedit

• gyap
• iet
• bingj
• ding
• fouh
• geij
• geng
• sin
• nyaemz
• gveiq