offenseoffence

Offense, or offence, is a noun with several related senses in English. It can denote a violation of law or rule, an action that causes hurt or insult, or a position in sports where a team or players attempt to score. The related verb is offend, meaning to cause someone to feel hurt or insult. The phrase “take offense” (or “take offence”) describes the act of feeling insulted.

Etymology and variants. The word derives from Old French offense, from Latin offensus or offensus, meaning a striking against. English adopted both spellings, with American English favoring offense and British English favoring offence. The two forms are etymologically identical and largely interchangeable in meaning, differing mainly by regional spelling conventions.

Spelling differences and usage. In formal writing, the choice of offense or offence typically follows regional guidelines: offense is standard in American English; offence in British English. Plural forms follow the same pattern (offenses vs offences). The phrase taking offense/offence reflects this variation. In specialized domains, offense appears in legal phrases such as “criminal offense,” while British usage might prefer “criminal offence.”

Contexts. In law, offense refers to a breach of statute or regulation. In everyday language, it can mean any act that disrespects or harms others. In sports, offense denotes the attacking side or plays designed to score, as opposed to defense. The word also appears in phrases like “offensive remarks” or “offensive treatment,” highlighting its broader social sense.

Offenseoffence. The concatenation of the two spellings—offenseoffence—is not a standard term, but can be used in linguistic discussions to illustrate dialectal variation in English spelling.