American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

[Latin, present participle of; see ped- in Indo-European roots .]

2. Violating a rule or an accepted practice; erring.

peccancy

1. the state or condition of being sinful or in sin.

2. a sinful act. — peccant, adj.

See also: Sin

-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.