Pilate

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. To evade or disclaim responsibility for something by pretending to have no involvement or power to act
2. To avoid accountability by symbolically or literally washing one's hands of a matter, as if to show innocence
3. To refuse to take responsibility by claiming helplessness or disengagement from an outcome

Etymology: Pontius Pilate was the Roman prefect of Judaea from about 26 to 36 CE, and the Gospels record him ordering Jesus's crucifixion. His personal name was "Pontius," from the Roman family name Pontius, and "Pilatus" was a cognomen, a family nickname. Its origin is uncertain. A common suggestion links it to Latin "pilum," the heavy javelin of the Roman legionary, so that "Pilatus" would mean something like "armed with a javelin." This is plausible but not proven. The name later attached itself to a place. Mount Pilatus, overlooking Lake Lucerne in Switzerland, is named after him through a medieval legend that his body was thrown into a tarn on its slopes and that his restless spirit caused storms. The legend explains the name, but the mountain's name predates any firm record of its meaning, so the story is better treated as folklore attached to an existing name than as its source.