罪つみなき

Meanings

pre-noun adjectival

innocent; guiltless; sinless

Pre-noun adjectival (rentaishi) meaning 'without guilt' or 'free from sin'. Often used in literary or formal contexts, and can carry a poetic or slightly archaic tone.

罪つみなき人ひと々びとが戦せん争そうで苦くるしんでいる。
Innocent people are suffering because of the war.
彼かれは罪つみなき子こ供どものように笑わらった。
He laughed like an innocent child.

Kanji

罪guilt, sin, crime
無nothingness, none, ain't

Related words

無む罪ざい
無罪 is a noun meaning 'innocence' or 'not guilty' in a legal sense, while 罪なき is a pre-noun adjectival with a more literary or moral nuance.
無む実じつ
無実 is a noun/adjectival noun meaning 'innocent' (especially of a crime), often used in legal contexts. 罪なき is more poetic and less common in everyday speech.

Written forms

罪つみなき
Standard spelling using the classical attributive form of the adjective なし (ない).
罪つみ無なき
Kanji spelling for なき; less common and somewhat literary.

Etymology

Compound of 罪 (tsumi, 'sin, crime') + なき (naki), the classical attributive form of the adjective なし (nashi, 'not exist'). The modern equivalent would be 罪のない (tsumi no nai).