Acquitance

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A written document that formally confirms payment of a debt and releases the debtor from further obligation
2. A receipt or written proof that a debt has been settled and the creditor no longer has a claim against the debtor
3. A formal written record acknowledging that an obligation has been fulfilled and the obligated party is discharged from liability

Etymology: Before it meant a receipt, this term was about being set free. It comes from Old French "aquiter," meaning to release someone from a debt or duty, which traces back to Latin "quietare," "to make quiet or at rest." A debtor who was released was left at peace with the creditor. English "quiet" comes from the same Latin root by a separate route, so the two are distant cousins. The noun first named that release itself. Over time it came to mean the written proof that a debt had been paid, the receipt. The legal verb "acquit," to clear someone of a charge, grew from the same idea of being freed from an obligation. The spelling "acquitance," with one t, appears in older texts as a variant of the standard "acquittance."

Synonyms: discharge, release, absolution

Antonyms: guilt, liability