innocence
[in-uh-suh ns]
- the quality or state of being innocent; freedom from sin or moral wrong.
- freedom from legal or specific wrong; guiltlessness: The prisoner proved his innocence.
- simplicity; absence of guile or cunning; naiveté.
- lack of knowledge or understanding.
- harmlessness; innocuousness.
- chastity.
- an innocent person or thing.
- bluet(def 1).
- blue-eyed Mary.
Origin of innocence
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for innocences
Historical Examples
Death is theirs, The death of innocences and despairs; The dying of the golden and the grey.
Later PoemsAlice Meynell
Its misfortunes, its infirmities, its innocences were counted to it as sins.
The Combined MazeMay Sinclair
Mrs. Besant, with her innocences and enthusiasms, was a baby in the hands of this female Cagliostro.
Flowers of FreethoughtGeorge W. Foote
innocence
- the quality or state of being innocentArchaic word: innocency (ˈɪnəsənsɪ)
Word Origin
C14: from Latin innocentia harmlessness, from innocēns doing no harm, blameless, from in- 1 + nocēns harming, from nocēre to hurt, harm; see noxious
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Word Origin and History for innocences
innocence
n.
mid-14c., "freedom from guilt," from Old French inocence "innocence, purity, chastity" (12c.), from Latin innocentia, from innocens "harmless, blameless" (see innocent). Meaning "lacking in guile or artifice" is from late 14c.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper