Absolving

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Declaring someone not responsible for a fault or wrongdoing
2. Formally freeing a person from blame or punishment
3. Releasing an individual from guilt or responsibility after review

Etymology: The verb "absolve" comes from the Latin "absolvere," which combined "ab," meaning "away from," with "solvere," meaning "to loosen" or "to release." Its root image is of untying a knot or unfastening a restraint, so to absolve someone was originally to loosen them from whatever bound them. The Latin sense of "set free" or "acquit" was carried into Middle English as "absolven," and the word was in use by the early 15th century. English also has a near-twin of this word. "Assoil," which entered the language through Old French, is a doublet of "absolve," meaning the two words descend from the same Latin source by different routes. "Assoil" has largely fallen out of use, while "absolve" kept its place in both legal and religious contexts. The "solvere" root also appears in "solve," "solution," and "dissolve," which all share the idea of loosening something that was tied or fixed. Seen this way, a person being absolved of blame is being untied from an accusation that held them in place.

Synonyms: forgiving, pardon, exonerating