Absolvable

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /æbˈzɑlv.ə.bl̩/

Definitions

1. Able to be exonerated from accusations or responsibility Relating to the potential for dismissing duties or obligations under defined circumstances Signifying a condition in which an individual may attain forgiveness or exemption from liability
2. Capable of being cleared from blame or responsibility under certain conditions
3. Able to be excused or released from a duty or fault

Etymology: "Absolvable" is a plain English formation: the verb "absolve" with the suffix "-able" attached. "Absolve" itself comes from Latin "absolvere", meaning "to loosen from" or "to set free", built from "ab" ("from") and "solvere" ("to loosen"), the same root that gives English "solve" and "dissolve." Its earliest sense was literal release, as when a prisoner or debtor was freed from a bond, and only later did it take on the moral and legal sense of being cleared of blame or guilt. The suffix has a longer ancestry than the word it attaches to. The "-able" ending descends from Latin "-abilis", which turned verbs into adjectives meaning "capable of being" the verb's action, and it passed into English through Old French "-able". English speakers have used it so freely that it now attaches to almost any verb, which is why "absolvable" could be formed naturally from "absolve" without any special coinage.

Synonyms: forgivable, exculpable

Antonyms: unforgivable, inculpable