Assoil - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

as·soil

Audio Help [uh-soil] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used with object) Archaic.

1.	to absolve; acquit; pardon.

2.	to atone for.

[Origin: 1250–1300; ME asoilen < AF asoiler, OF asoilier, var. of asoldre < L absolvere to absolve

]

—Related forms

as·soil·ment, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Assoil

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

as·soil Audio Help (ə-soil') Pronunciation Key
tr.v. as·soiled, as·soil·ing, as·soils Archaic

To absolve; pardon.
To atone for.

[Middle English assoilen, from Old French assoldre, assoil-, from Latin absolvere, to set free : ab-, away; see ab-¹ + solvere, to loosen; see leu- in Indo-European roots.]

as·soil'ment n.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

assoil
verb
pronounce not guilty of criminal charges; "The suspect was cleared of the murder charges" [syn: acquit] [ant: convict]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Assoil

Ab*solve"\ (#; 277), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Absolved; p. pr. & vb. n. Absolving.] [L. absolvere to set free, to absolve; ab + solvere to loose. See Assoil, Solve.]

1. To set free, or release, as from some obligation, debt, or responsibility, or from the consequences of guilt or such ties as it would be sin or guilt to violate; to pronounce free; as, to absolve a subject from his allegiance; to absolve an offender, which amounts to an acquittal and remission of his punishment.

Halifax was absolved by a majority of fourteen. --Macaulay.

2. To free from a penalty; to pardon; to remit (a sin); -- said of the sin or guilt.

In his name I absolve your perjury. --Gibbon.

3. To finish; to accomplish. [Obs.]

The work begun, how soon absolved. --Milton.

4. To resolve or explain. [Obs.] "We shall not absolve the doubt." --Sir T. Browne.

Syn: To Absolve, Exonerate, Acquit.

Usage: We speak of a man as absolved from something that binds his conscience, or involves the charge of wrongdoing; as, to absolve from allegiance or from the obligation of an oath, or a promise. We speak of a person as exonerated, when he is released from some burden which had rested upon him; as, to exonerate from suspicion, to exonerate from blame or odium. It implies a purely moral acquittal. We speak of a person as acquitted, when a decision has been made in his favor with reference to a specific charge, either by a jury or by disinterested persons; as, he was acquitted of all participation in the crime.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Assoil

As*soil"\, v. t. [OF. assoiler, absoiler, assoldre, F. absoudre, L. absolvere. See Absolve.]

1. To set free; to release. [Archaic]

Till from her hands the spright assoiled is. --Spenser.

2. To solve; to clear up. [Obs.]

Any child might soon be able to assoil this riddle. --Bp. Jewel.

3. To set free from guilt; to absolve. [Archaic]

Acquitted and assoiled from the guilt. --Dr. H. More.

Many persons think themselves fairly assoiled, because they are . . . not of scandalous lives. --Jer. Taylor.

4. To expiate; to atone for. [Archaic] --Spenser.

Let each act assoil a fault. --E. Arnold.