vindicate definition | Dictionary.com

vin⋅di⋅cate

[vin-di-keyt]

–verb (used with object), -cat⋅ed, -cat⋅ing.

1.	to clear, as from an accusation, imputation, suspicion, or the like: to vindicate someone's honor.

2.	to afford justification for; justify: Subsequent events vindicated his policy.

3.	to uphold or justify by argument or evidence: to vindicate a claim.

4.	to assert, maintain, or defend (a right, cause, etc.) against opposition.

5.	to claim for oneself or another.

6.	Roman and Civil Law. to regain possession, under claim of title of property through legal procedure, or to assert one's right to possession.

7.	to get revenge for; avenge.

8.	Obsolete. to deliver from; liberate.

9.	Obsolete. to punish.

Origin:
1525–35; < L vindicātus (ptp. of vindicāre to lay legal claim to (property), to free (someone) from servitude (by claiming him as free), to protect, avenge, punish), equiv. to vindic- (s. of vindex claimant, protector, avenger) + -ātus -ate ¹

Related forms:

vin⋅di⋅ca⋅tor, noun

Synonyms:
1. exonerate. 3, 4. support.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To vindicate

vin·di·cate (vĭn'dĭ-kāt')

tr.v. vin·di·cat·ed, vin·di·cat·ing, vin·di·cates

To clear of accusation, blame, suspicion, or doubt with supporting arguments or proof: "Our society permits people to sue for libel so that they may vindicate their reputations" (Irving R. Kaufman).
To provide justification or support for: vindicate one's claim.
To justify or prove the worth of, especially in light of later developments.
To defend, maintain, or insist on the recognition of (one's rights, for example).
To exact revenge for; avenge.

[Latin vindicāre, vindicāt-, from vindex, vindic-, surety, avenger; see deik- in Indo-European roots.]
vin'di·ca'tor n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Vindicate

Vin"di*cate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Vindicated; p. pr. & vb. n. Vindicating.] [L. vindicatus, p. p. of vindicare to lay claim to, defend, avenge. See Vengeance.]

1. To lay claim to; to assert a right to; to claim. [R.]

Is thine alone the seed that strews the plain? The birds of heaven shall vindicate their grain. --Pope.

2. To maintain or defend with success; to prove to be valid; to assert convincingly; to sustain against assault; as, to vindicate a right, claim, or title.

3. To support or maintain as true or correct, against denial, censure, or objections; to defend; to justify.

When the respondent denies any proposition, the opponent must directly vindicate . . . that proposition. --I. Watts.

Laugh where we must, be candid where we can, But vindicate the ways of God to man. --Pope.

4. To maintain, as a law or a cause, by overthrowing enemies. --Milton.

5. To liberate; to set free; to deliver. [Obs.]

I am confident he deserves much more That vindicates his country from a tyrant Than he that saves a citizen. --Massinger.

6. To avenge; to punish; as, a war to vindicate or punish infidelity. [Obs.] --Bacon.

God is more powerful to exact subjection and to vindicate rebellion. --Bp. Pearson.

Syn: To assert; maintain; claim. See Assert.

vindicate (v.)

1623, "to avenge or revenge," from L. vindicatus, pp. of vindicare (see vindication). Meaning "to clear from censure or doubt, by means of demonstration" is recorded from 1635.

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