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Webster 1913 Edition


Absolve

Ab-solve′

(#; 277)
,
Verb.
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
.
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 1828 Edition


Absolve

ABSOLVE'

,
Verb.
T.
abzolv', [L. absolvo, from ab and solvo, to loose or release; to absolve, to finish; Heb. to loose or loosen. See Solve.]
To set free or release from some obligation, debt or responsibility; or from that which subjects a person to a burden or penalty; as to absolve a person from a promise; to absolve an offender, which amounts to an acquittal and remission of his punishment. Hence, in the civil law, the word was used for acquit; and in the canon law, for forgive, or a sentence of
remission. In ordinary language, its sense is to set free or release from an engagement. Formerly, good writers used the word in the sense of finish, accomplish; as to absolve work, in Milton; but in this sense, it seems to be obsolete.

Definition 2024


absolvé

absolvé

See also: absolve

Spanish

Verb

absolvé

  1. (Latin America) Informal second-person singular (voseo) affirmative imperative form of absolver.