Absolved

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To be released from guilt or sin as well as to be formally excused from duty or responsibility may convey the essence of the term
2. The state of having been free from accusations or obligations can illustrate an important concept in moral or legal contexts
3. Declared free of blame or moral guilt by an authority ; freed from any duty, responsibility, or penalty formally assigned

Etymology: "Absolved" is the past tense and past participle of "absolve", so its story is really the story of that verb. Its ancestor, Latin "absolvere", was built from "ab", meaning "away from", and "solvere", meaning "loosen" or "release". The sense was literally to loosen something off, as a knot or a bond, and from there to set a person free from a obligation or charge. English borrowed the verb in the early 15th century, in the form "absolven". Its legal and religious senses developed quickly, since a court could acquit a defendant and a priest could pardon a sinner, and both uses of "absolve" carry the same image of a bond being cut. Notice that "solve" comes from the same Latin root. A problem solved is, in the same way, a knot loosened. English also has a doublet of "absolve" in "assoil", which came into the language through Old French and was used for the same sense of releasing someone from guilt or debt.

Synonyms: exonerated, acquitted, absolving, pardoned, released

Antonyms: condemned, accused