1. An illegal act for which a person can be legally punished by local and national governments: "As far as most citizens were concerned, the punishment of eight years and 100 lashes for the father who beat his daughter to death in an Arab country didn't fit the crime."
2. Behavior which is considered to be foolish or unacceptable: "It is believed by most people to be a crime to let food go to waste."

"When asked why he had never married; Erin, who was 40, said, that being single was not a crime."

3. Etymological or historical background: Crime is one of a wide range of English words which come ultimately from or are related to the Greek verb krinein, "to decide". This was a relative of Latin cernere, "to decide", from whose root evolved the noun crimen, "judgment, accusation, illegal act".

This passed via Old French crimne (later crime) into English, where traces of the original meaning "accusation" survived until the 17th century.