Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2021 May 1

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May 1

How is the word "crime" divided?

Can I divide it into "moral crime" and "legal crime"? Rizosome (talk) 17:58, 1 May 2021 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you're asking. A crime, by definition, is an act that is against the law. Something may be immoral, but not illegal. It is even conceivable that an illegal act not be immoral. --Khajidha (talk) 19:07, 1 May 2021 (UTC)

The 2nd definition on Wiktionary: Any great sin or wickedness; iniquity,^[1] which would cover "moral crime". 2603:6081:1C00:1187:D405:A446:5369:AB90 (talk) 19:45, 1 May 2021 (UTC)

EO indicates that the moral sense preceded the arguably narrower legal sense.[2] ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 20:42, 1 May 2021 (UTC)

It is not a division. Like many words, this term has several senses, but the sets of acts they are applicable to overlap.  --Lambiam 00:04, 2 May 2021 (UTC)

Well, there's corporate crime, white-collar crime, blue-collar crime, cybercrime, organized crime, war crime, victimless crime, corporate crime, and so on. In general, they are all both immoral and illegal.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 08:49, 2 May 2021 (UTC)

These terms also do not induce a division in the field of crime. The same act (e.g. the Minecode scandal) can at the same time be an instance of corporate crime, white-collar crime, and cybercrime.  --Lambiam 09:34, 3 May 2021 (UTC)

There's plenty of debate about whether "victimless" crimes are immoral and/or should be illegal. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:04, 2 May 2021 (UTC)

I think you are asking about the distinction between malum prohibitum versus malum in se. 173.228.123.166 (talk) 04:54, 3 May 2021 (UTC)