innocence

[ in-uh-suhns ]
See synonyms for innocence on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the quality or state of being innocent; freedom from sin or moral wrong.

  2. freedom from legal or specific wrong; guiltlessness: The prisoner proved his innocence.

  1. simplicity; absence of guile or cunning; naiveté.

  2. lack of knowledge or understanding.

  3. harmlessness; innocuousness.

  4. an innocent person or thing.

Origin of innocence

1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English word from Latin word innocentia.See innocent, -ence

Other words from innocence

  • su·per·in·no·cence, noun

Words that may be confused with innocence

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use innocence in a sentence

  • Mrs. Besant, with her innocences and enthusiasms, was a baby in the hands of this female Cagliostro.

    Flowers of Freethought | George W. Foote
  • Death is theirs, The death of innocences and despairs; The dying of the golden and the grey.

    Later Poems | Alice Meynell
  • Its misfortunes, its infirmities, its innocences were counted to it as sins.

    The Combined Maze | May Sinclair

British Dictionary definitions for innocence

innocence

/ (ˈɪnəsəns) /


noun
  1. the quality or state of being innocent: Archaic word: innocency (ˈɪnəsənsɪ)

Origin of innocence

1
C14: from Latin innocentia harmlessness, from innocēns doing no harm, blameless, from in- 1 + nocēns harming, from nocēre to hurt, harm; see noxious

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012