Synonyms Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for absolve on Thesaurus.com verb (used with object), ab·solved, ab·solv·ing. to free from guilt or blame or their consequences: The court absolved her of guilt in his death. to set free or release, as from some duty, obligation, or responsibility (usually followed by from ): to be absolved from one's oath. to grant pardon for. Ecclesiastical to grant or pronounce remission of sins to. to remit (a sin) by absolution . to declare (censure, as excommunication) removed. Show More
Origin of absolve 1525–35; <
Latin absolvere, equivalent to
ab- ab- +
solvere to loosen; see
solve Related forms ab·solv·a·ble , adjective ab·sol·vent , adjective, noun ab·solv·er , noun un·ab·solved , adjective Synonym study 1 . Absolve, acquit, exonerate all mean to free from blame. Absolve is a general word for this idea. To acquit is to release from a specific and usually formal accusation: The court must acquit the accused if there is not enough evidence of guilt. To exonerate is to consider a person clear of blame or consequences for an act (even when the act is admitted), or to justify the person for having done it: to be exonerated for a crime committed in self-defense.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for absolve acquit ,
vindicate ,
pardon ,
relieve ,
forgive ,
exempt ,
exonerate ,
exculpate ,
whitewash ,
spring ,
clear ,
loose ,
free ,
excuse ,
launder ,
spare ,
sanitize ,
bleach ,
release ,
discharge Examples from the Web for absolve Contemporary Examples of absolve Many were just eager to forget, absolve , or overlook serious accusations, simply because doing so would be hugely convenient.
Yet the essay does not absolve the Left from paranoid thinking.
On the one hand, he is trying to absolve Skyler of his sins.
Social media, Sharif emphasized, has been an indispensable tool for Saudi women “to absolve the gender apartheid.”
Will they absolve him of stealing papal documents and leaking them to the press, and let him go?
Historical Examples of absolve Were I to be queen of the universe, that dignity should not absolve me from my duty to you and to my father.
That would be to absolve him from living, since it is life itself that is the burden.
There is no suggestion here that religion will absolve any man from bearing burdens.
Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world.
But I may also neglect this reflex standard and absolve me to myself.
British Dictionary definitions for absolve (usually foll by from) to release from blame, sin, punishment, obligation, or responsibility to pronounce not guilty; acquit; pardon Show More
Derived Forms absolvable , adjective absolver , noun Word Origin for absolve C15: from Latin absolvere to free from, from ab- 1 + solvere to make loose
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for absolve v. early 15c., from Latin absolvere "set free, loosen, acquit," from ab- "from" (see ab- ) + solvere "loosen" (see solve ). Related: Absolved ; absolving .
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
