Vindications

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of substantiating a position or belief; the act of providing evidence to support a claim or defense; the situation in which one is validated or exonerated from blame or criticism
2. The act of establishing that a belief or action is correct or reasonable through evidence or argument
3. Demonstrating the truth or fairness of an opinion or behavior by providing supporting facts

Etymology: Latin "vindex" meant a claimant or protector, someone who stepped forward to defend another person's cause, and from it Romans built "vindicare," to avenge, protect, or lay formal claim to something. The noun "vindicatio" covered all of those senses at once: a legal claim, a defence, a punishment. The word's shadow of revenge survived into Old French, where "vindication" still meant vengeance, even as English borrowed the term in the Late Middle English period with the sense of asserting a claim. Over time the vengeful edge fell away, and the word settled on proving that something was right. The modern sense, showing a belief or action to be justified through evidence or argument, grew from that older idea of standing up for a cause. A vindication is therefore less a verdict than a defence that succeeds.

Synonyms: justifications, defenses, exonerations, ratifications, support