Thread: угол и уголовный

Interested in knowing which could be the etymology of уголовный I have searched in the Etymologic dictionary with no result. Perhaps it has any connection with угол, since I see as a close meaning, to put someone in a corner (inside) or perhaps to appear suddenly in a corner (outside) asking: "Bitte, give me your wallet, if you are so kind?" ? However, the meaning of "criminal" of уголовный seems something more serious than a simple pick-pocket.
Thanks.

I beg to make an assumption that the word "уголовный" has something to do with "голова" (a head), and the prefix "у" remained there from the word "усекать" (a word from the old Russian) which means "отсекать" (to cut off); so "уголовный" (criminal) refers to the kind of thing for which one can have his/her head cut off...

Really, you are a very deep pit of science I never could imagine this root. As for the verb for to cut off it is very present so in Latin (seco, -as, -are tu cut) as from the Latin in Spanish : secante, disección, aso. So in Russian it means: "the person whose head deserves to be taken off", ha, ha.
Thanks, again. it has been very interesting.

уголо́вный

Originally Posted by этимологический словарь Фасмера

уголо́вщина, блр. уголо́вны "срочный, важный", уголо́вно "срочно, необходимо". Связано с голова́, которое имело в др.-русск. также знач. "убитый". Ср. в семантическом отношении лат. capitālis "головной", затем "уголовный"; см. Преобр., Труды I, 38. (По мнению Пизани ("Раidеiа", 12, No 5, 1958, стр. 30, это непосредственная калька с лат. capitālis или нем. Наuрt-vеrbrесhеn "уголовное преступление". – Т.).уголо́вный

уголо́вщина, блр. уголо́вны "срочный, важный", уголо́вно "срочно, необходимо". Связано с голова́, которое имело в др.-русск. также знач. "убитый". Ср. в семантическом отношении лат. capitālis "головной", затем "уголовный"; см. Преобр., Труды I, 38. (По мнению Пизани ("Раidеiа", 12, No 5, 1958, стр. 30, это непосредственная калька с лат. capitālis или нем. Наuрt-vеrbrесhеn "уголовное преступление". – Т.).

What i managed to find is this.

Прилагательное имеет смысловую связь с древнерусским словом «голова», которое употреблялось и в значении «убитый».

So there was the Old Russian word «голова» which meant both 'head' as in contemporary Russian, but also had the other meaning 'killed'. My hypothesis is that 'уголовный' is derived from this word 'голова' implying its 2nd meaning, and this is the crime involving killing or murder. Later the world 'уголовный' evolved and covered more meanings including rape, assault, terrorism and other most serious crimes. And so in contemporary Russian what we have is 'уголовный' meaning all serious crimes, thus уголовно-наказуемый, Уголовный кодекс (УК), уголовник (slang word for felons).

Thank you. Very interesting, so I understand that преступление is a kind of minor crimes, like involuntary homicides.
OK, thanks.

Originally Posted by radomir

Thank you. Very interesting, so I understand that преступление is a kind of minor crimes, like involuntary homicides.
OK, thanks.

Преступление is any crime. It is just a general term for any crime or offense in Russian. It can be either a minor crime or a grave crime, any kind of crime.

If in Spanish))) преступление = delito, crimen. уголовное преступление - delito común.

As for Spanish Penal Code there are two types of crimes: political ones and commun, the rest.
As for the difference between преступление and уголовное преступление
I have found in a dictionary in the web that уголовное преступление is this crime punished with execution.
Since it all has born from the phrase about the prohibition of selling alcohol to young people in Russia:
Продажа адкоголя детям на территории Российской федерации будет считаться уголовным преступлением.
I will translate уголовное преступление as "an specially grave crime" since here this punishment obviously is out of case.
Thanks.

It's not necessarily grave crimes. In Russia there are essentially two types of crimes: административные правонарушения (relatively minor, which are punished by fines or other correctional measures) and уголовные преступления (which are punished with imprisonment - murder, car theft, grievous bodily harm, etc. ).
Basicaly everything that can land а person in jail is "уголовное преступление".

Legal advice is needed. AFAIK there are also "военные преступления," and I am not sure that espionage, for example, is classified as "уголовное преступление".

Thank you for your explanations.

Originally Posted by it-ogo

Legal advice is needed. AFAIK there are also "военные преступления," and I am not sure that espionage, for example, is classified as "уголовное преступление".

yes, if you think about that there are also 'crimes against humanity' (преступление против человечности), шпионаж - преступление против государства.... but all that, definitely, is a matter of LAW.