Etymology

offense

of·fense
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Today it means: A crime or sin. Full definition →

Middle English offence ← Old French offense ← Latin offensa
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromoffensa“a striking against; displeasure; injury”
  2. Old French · derived fromoffense
  3. Middle English · inherited fromoffence
  4. English todayoffense

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

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.