violation vs law-breaking

violation and law-breaking both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
violation	Yes	No	No	No
law-breaking	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, law-breaking is a hypernym of violation; that is, law-breaking is a word with a broader meaning than violation:

violation: a crime less serious than a felony
law-breaking: (criminal law) an act punishable by law; usually considered an evil act

Other hypernyms of violation include crime, criminal offence, criminal offense.

violation (noun)	law-breaking (noun)
a crime less serious than a felony	(criminal law) an act punishable by law; usually considered an evil act
entry to another's property without right or permission
the crime of forcing a person to submit to sexual intercourse against his or her will
a disrespectful act
an act that disregards an agreement or a right