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

ab·solve

Audio Help [ab-zolv, -solv] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used with object), -solved, -solv·ing.

1.	to free from guilt or blame or their consequences: The court absolved her of guilt in his death.

2.	to set free or release, as from some duty, obligation, or responsibility (usually fol. by from): to be absolved from one's oath.

3.	to grant pardon for.

Ecclesiastical.

a.	to grant or pronounce remission of sins to.

b.	to remit (a sin) by absolution.

c.	to declare (censure, as excommunication) removed.

[Origin: 1525–35; < L absolvere, equiv. to ab- ab- + solvere to loosen; see solve

]

—Related forms

ab·solv·a·ble, adjective

ab·sol·vent, adjective, noun

ab·solv·er, noun

—Synonyms 1. exculpate, clear. Absolve, acquit, exonerate all mean to free from blame. Absolve is a general word for this idea. To acquit is to release from a specific and usually formal accusation: The court must acquit the accused if there is not enough evidence of guilt. To exonerate is to consider a person clear of blame or consequences for an act (even when the act is admitted), or to justify the person for having done it: to be exonerated for a crime committed in self-defense. 2. liberate, exempt. 3. excuse, forgive.

—Antonyms 1. blame.

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

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
absolve

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ab·solve Audio Help (əb-zŏlv', -sŏlv') Pronunciation Key
tr.v. ab·solved, ab·solv·ing, ab·solves

To pronounce clear of guilt or blame.
To relieve of a requirement or obligation.
1. To grant a remission of sin to.
2. To pardon or remit (a sin).

[Middle English absolven, from Latin absolvere; see absolute.]

ab·solv'a·ble adj., ab·solv'er n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
absolve

1535, from L. absolvere "set free, loosen, acquit," from ab- "from" + solvere "loosen" (see solve).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

absolve
verb
1.	grant remission of a sin to; "The priest absolved him and told him to say ten Hail Mary's" [syn: shrive]
2.	let off the hook; "I absolve you from this responsibility" [ant: blame]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version) - Cite This Source - Share This
absolve [əbˈzolv] verb

to make free or release (from a promise, duty or blame)
Example: He was absolved of all blame.

Arabic:	يُـحِل مِن، يُبَرِّئ مِن
Chinese (Simplified):	解除
Chinese (Traditional):	解除
Czech:	zprostit
Danish:	løse; frikende
Dutch:	absolveren
Estonian:	vabastama
Finnish:	vapauttaa
French:	absoudre
German:	freisprechen
Greek:	απαλλάσσω
Hungarian:	felment
Icelandic:	leysa undan (skyldu, ábyrgð); sÿkna
Indonesian:	dibebaskan
Italian:	assolvere

Japanese:	放免する
Korean:	면제하다, 용서하다
Latvian:	atbrīvot; attaisnot; piedot (grēkus)
Lithuanian:	atleisti (nuo), dovanoti
Norwegian:	løse, frikjenne
Polish:	zwalniać, oczyszczać
Portuguese (Brazil):	absolver
Portuguese (Portugal):	absolver
Romanian:	a absolvi
Russian:	признавать невиновным
Slovak:	zbaviť
Slovenian:	oprostiti
Spanish:	absolver
Swedish:	frikänna, lösa
Turkish:	affetmek, bağışlamak

See also: absolution

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This

Main Entry: ab·solve
Pronunciation: &b-'zälv, -'sälv
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: ab·solved; ab·solv·ing
1 : to set free or release from some obligation or responsibility <a judgment terminating a parent's rights…absolves that parent of all future support obligations —In re Bruce Railroad, 662 Atlantic Reporter, Second Series 107 (1995)>
2 : to determine to be free of fault, guilt, or liability <a jury absolved the defendant of any negligence —Harbaugh v. Darr, 438 Pacific Reporter, Second Series 74 (1968)>

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

Absolve

Ab"so*lute\, a. [L. absolutus, p. p. of absolvere: cf. F. absolu. See Absolve.]

1. Loosed from any limitation or condition; uncontrolled; unrestricted; unconditional; as, absolute authority, monarchy, sovereignty, an absolute promise or command; absolute power; an absolute monarch.

2. Complete in itself; perfect; consummate; faultless; as, absolute perfection; absolute beauty.

So absolute she seems, And in herself complete. --Milton.

3. Viewed apart from modifying influences or without comparison with other objects; actual; real; -- opposed to relative and comparative; as, absolute motion; absolute time or space.

Note: Absolute rights and duties are such as pertain to man in a state of nature as contradistinguished from relative rights and duties, or such as pertain to him in his social relations.

4. Loosed from, or unconnected by, dependence on any other being; self-existent; self-sufficing.

Note: In this sense God is called the Absolute by the Theist. The term is also applied by the Pantheist to the universe, or the total of all existence, as only capable of relations in its parts to each other and to the whole, and as dependent for its existence and its phenomena on its mutually depending forces and their laws.

5. Capable of being thought or conceived by itself alone; unconditioned; non-relative.

Note: It is in dispute among philosopher whether the term, in this sense, is not applied to a mere logical fiction or abstraction, or whether the absolute, as thus defined, can be known, as a reality, by the human intellect.

To Cusa we can indeed articulately trace, word and thing, the recent philosophy of the absolute. --Sir W. Hamilton.

6. Positive; clear; certain; not doubtful. [R.]

I am absolute 't was very Cloten. --Shak.

7. Authoritative; peremptory. [R.]

The peddler stopped, and tapped her on the head, With absolute forefinger, brown and ringed. --Mrs. Browning.

8. (Chem.) Pure; unmixed; as, absolute alcohol.

9. (Gram.) Not immediately dependent on the other parts of the sentence in government; as, the case absolute. See Ablative absolute, under Ablative.

Absolute curvature (Geom.), that curvature of a curve of double curvature, which is measured in the osculating plane of the curve.

Absolute equation (Astron.), the sum of the optic and eccentric equations.

Absolute space (Physics), space considered without relation to material limits or objects.

Absolute terms. (Alg.), such as are known, or which do not contain the unknown quantity. --Davies & Peck.

Absolute temperature (Physics), the temperature as measured on a scale determined by certain general thermo-dynamic principles, and reckoned from the absolute zero.

Absolute zero (Physics), the be ginning, or zero point, in the scale of absolute temperature. It is equivalent to -273[deg] centigrade or -459.4[deg] Fahrenheit.

Syn: Positive; peremptory; certain; unconditional; unlimited; unrestricted; unqualified; arbitrary; despotic; autocratic.

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

Absolve

Ab`so*lu"tion\, n. [F. absolution, L. absolutio, fr. absolvere to absolve. See Absolve.]

1. An absolving, or setting free from guilt, sin, or penalty; forgiveness of an offense. "Government . . . granting absolution to the nation." --Froude.

2. (Civil Law) An acquittal, or sentence of a judge declaring and accused person innocent. [Obs.]

3. (R. C. Ch.) The exercise of priestly jurisdiction in the sacrament of penance, by which Catholics believe the sins of the truly penitent are forgiven.

Note: In the English and other Protestant churches, this act regarded as simply declaratory, not as imparting forgiveness.

4. (Eccl.) An absolving from ecclesiastical penalties, -- for example, excommunication. --P. Cyc.

5. The form of words by which a penitent is absolved. --Shipley.

6. Delivery, in speech. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.

Absolution day (R. C. Ch.), Tuesday before Easter.

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

Absolve

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

Absolve

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.]

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.

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

Absolve

Ac*quit"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Acquitted; p. pr. & vb. n. Acquitting.] [OE. aquiten, OF. aquiter, F. acquitter; ? (L. ad) + OF. quiter, F. quitter, to quit. See Quit, and cf. Acquiet.]

1. To discharge, as a claim or debt; to clear off; to pay off; to requite.

A responsibility that can never be absolutely acquitted. --I. Taylor.

2. To pay for; to atone for. [Obs.] --Shak.

3. To set free, release or discharge from an obligation, duty, liability, burden, or from an accusation or charge; -- now followed by of before the charge, formerly by from; as, the jury acquitted the prisoner; we acquit a man of evil intentions.

4. Reflexively: (a) To clear one's self. --Shak. (b) To bear or conduct one's self; to perform one's part; as, the soldier acquitted himself well in battle; the orator acquitted himself very poorly.

Syn: To absolve; clear; exonerate; exonerate; exculpate; release; discharge. See Absolve.

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

Absolve

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.

5. To remove; to put off. [Obs.]

She soundly slept, and careful thoughts did quite assoil. --Spenser.

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

Absolve

Ex*on"er*ate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Exonerated; p. pr. & vb. n. Exonerating.] [L. exoneratus, p. p. of exonerare to free from a burden; ex out, from onerare to load, onus load. See Onerous.]

1. To unload; to disburden; to discharge. [Obs.]

All exonerate themselves into one common duct. --Ray.

2. To relieve, in a moral sense, as of a charge, obligation, or load of blame resting on one; to clear of something that lies upon oppresses one, as an accusation or imputation; as, to exonerate one's self from blame, or from the charge of avarice. --Burke.

3. To discharge from duty or obligation, as a ball.

Syn: To absolve; acquit; exculpate. See Absolve.

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