Absolutory

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /æbˈsɑl.jəˌtɔɹ.i/

Definitions

1. Tending to clear someone of guilt or blame by way of judgment or decision
2. Functioning to release a person from responsibility or fault through a formal declaration
3. Acting to pardon or excuse someone from blame or accusations in a legal or moral sense

Etymology: "Absolutory" is built from "absolve," which comes from Latin "absolvere," meaning "to loosen from" or "to set free." The Latin verb combined "ab-" ("away from") with "solvere" ("to loosen," the same root that gives English "solve" and "dissolve"). In the Latin of the courts, absolving someone meant loosening the bonds of an accusation, releasing them from the charge hanging over them. The adjective "absolutory" comes from Latin "absolūtōrius," a formation built on that verb and used for things that have the power to acquit or pardon. Its job is to describe a verdict, a speech, or a decree that clears a person, so the word carries the legal sense of release that its root already implied.

Synonyms: exonerative, absolving, acquitting, forgiving, pardonable

Antonyms: condemnatory, accusatory, reproachful, censuring, blaming