society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > [noun] > crime > quality of being (a) criminal > degree of criminality (3)
of (also †in) (a certain) nature: of a (also the) type, character, etc., specified. Cf. sense 8a.
Criminal Law. Relative measure of criminality, as in principal in the first,or second, degree: see quots. In U.S. Law, A distinctive grade of crime…