Trespass

How to spell trespass

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce trespass

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does trespass mean?

1. verbTo enter someone's land or property without permission.
2. nounAn unlawful act, especially entering property without permission, or more broadly a moral offence.

Trespass in a sentence

• verb

  The sign warned hikers not to trespass on the private estate.

• noun

  The company sued the protesters for trespass on its premises.

• verb

  Anyone who chooses to trespass here risks prosecution by the landowner.

• noun

  The old prayer asks forgiveness for every trespass committed during the day.

Where does trespass come from?

Language of origin: French

This word came into English through Old French trespasser, which meant 'to pass across' or 'to pass beyond'. It was built from tres-, a French form of the Latin trans meaning 'across' or 'beyond', joined to passer 'to pass', which itself descends from the Late Latin passare 'to step or walk'. The literal idea of stepping over a boundary quickly took on the figurative sense of overstepping a moral or legal limit, which is why a trespass came to mean a sin or an offence as well as an unlawful entry onto land. English adopted it in the 1200s, and its older religious flavour survives in the traditional wording of the Lord's Prayer, 'forgive us our trespasses'. The hidden trap in spelling is the doubled s at the end and the single s in the middle, plus the unstressed second vowel that sounds like a faint 'uh'.

How the word is built

• tres- (across, beyond, from Latin trans)
• pass (to pass, from Late Latin passare)