trespass Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a wrongful interference with the possession of property (personal property as well as realty), or the action instituted to recover damages
  2. noun entry to another's property without right or permission
    violation; encroachment; usurpation; intrusion.
  3. verb enter unlawfully on someone's property
    intrude.
    • Don't trespass on my land!
  4. verb make excessive use of
    take advantage.
    • You are taking advantage of my good will!
    • She is trespassing upon my privacy
  5. verb break the law
  6. verb commit a sin; violate a law of God or a moral law
    sin; transgress.
  7. verb pass beyond (limits or boundaries)
    overstep; transgress.

WordNet

Tres"pass intransitive verb
Etymology
OF. trespasser to go across or over, transgress, F. trépasser to die; pref. tres- (L. trans across, over) + passer to pass. See Pass, v. i., and cf. Transpass.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Trespassed ; present participle & verbal noun Trespassing
Definitions
  1. To pass beyond a limit or boundary; hence, to depart; to go. Obs.
    Soon after this, noble Robert de Bruce . . . trespassed out of this uncertain world. Ld. Berners.
  2. (Law) To commit a trespass; esp., to enter unlawfully upon the land of another.
  3. To go too far; to put any one to inconvenience by demand or importunity; to intrude; as, to trespass upon the time or patience of another.
  4. To commit any offense, or to do any act that injures or annoys another; to violate any rule of rectitude, to the injury of another; hence, in a moral sense, to transgress voluntarily any divine law or command; to violate any known rule of duty; to sin; -- often followed by against.
    In the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the Lord. 2 Chron. xxviii. 22.
Tres"pass noun
Etymology
OF. trspas, F. trépas death. See Trespass, v.
Definitions
  1. Any injury or offence done to another.
    I you forgive all wholly this trespass. Chaucer.
    If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matt. vi. 15.
  2. Any voluntary transgression of the moral law; any violation of a known rule of duty; sin.
    The fatal trespass done by Eve. Milton.
    You . . . who were dead in trespasses and sins. Eph. if. 1.
  3. (Law) (a) An unlawful act committed with force and violence (vi et armis) on the person, property, or relative rights of another. (b) An action for injuries accompanied with force. Syn. -- Offense; breach; infringement; transgression; misdemeanor; misdeed.

Webster 1913