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absolve

[ab-zolv, -solv]
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verb (used with object), ab·solved, ab·solv·ing.
  1. to free from guilt or blame or their consequences: The court absolved her of guilt in his death.
  2. to set free or release, as from some duty, obligation, or responsibility (usually followed by from): to be absolved from one's oath.
  3. to grant pardon for.
  4. Ecclesiastical.
    1. to grant or pronounce remission of sins to.
    2. to remit (a sin) by absolution.
    3. to declare (censure, as excommunication) removed.
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Origin of absolve

1525–35; < Latin absolvere, equivalent to ab- ab- + solvere to loosen; see solve
Related formsab·solv·a·ble, adjectiveab·sol·vent, adjective, nounab·solv·er, nounun·ab·solved, adjective

Synonyms

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1. exculpate, clear. 2. liberate, exempt. 3. excuse, forgive.

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.

Antonyms

1. blame.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

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

Historical Examples

  • Were I to be queen of the universe, that dignity should not absolve me from my duty to you and to my father.

    Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)

    Samuel Richardson

  • That would be to absolve him from living, since it is life itself that is the burden.

    Pax Vobiscum

    Henry Drummond

  • There is no suggestion here that religion will absolve any man from bearing burdens.

    Pax Vobiscum

    Henry Drummond

  • Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world.

    Essays, First Series

    Ralph Waldo Emerson

  • But I may also neglect this reflex standard and absolve me to myself.

    Essays, First Series

    Ralph Waldo Emerson

British Dictionary definitions for absolve

absolve

verb (tr)
  1. (usually foll by from) to release from blame, sin, punishment, obligation, or responsibility
  2. to pronounce not guilty; acquit; pardon
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Derived Formsabsolvable, adjectiveabsolver, noun

Word Origin

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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