absolve, free
(verb) let off the hook; “I absolve you from this responsibility”
shrive, absolve
(verb) grant remission of a sin to; “The priest absolved him and told him to say ten Hail Marys”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
absolve (third-person singular simple present absolves, present participle absolving, simple past and past participle absolved)
(transitive) To set free, release or discharge (from obligations, debts, responsibility etc.). [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]
(transitive, obsolete) To resolve; to explain; to solve. [Attested from the late 15th century until the mid 17th century.]
(transitive) To pronounce free from or give absolution for a penalty, blame, or guilt. [First attested in the mid 16th century.]
(transitive, legal) To pronounce not guilty; to grant a pardon for. [First attested in the mid 16th century.]
(transitive, theology) To grant a remission of sin; to give absolution to. [First attested in the mid 16th century.]
(transitive, theology) To remit a sin; to give absolution for a sin. [First attested in the late 16th century.]
(transitive, obsolete) To finish; to accomplish. [Attested from the late 16th century until the early 19th century.]
(transitive) To pass a course or test; to gain credit for a class; to qualify academically.
• (to set free, release from obligations): Normally followed by the word from.
• (to pronounce free from; give absolution for blame): Normally followed by the word from.
• (set free): excuse, exempt, free, release
• (pronounce free or give absolution): acquit, exculpate, exonerate, pardon, remit, vindicate
• (theology: to pronounce free or give absolution from sin): remit
Source: Wiktionary
Ab*solve" (#; 277), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Absolved; p. pr. & vb. n. Absolving.] Etym: [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.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
22 February 2025
(noun) the use of closed-class words instead of inflections: e.g., ‘the father of the bride’ instead of ‘the bride’s father’
According to Guinness World Records, on 25 September 2016, the Birla Institute of Management Technology (India) in Uttar Pradesh, India, constructed the largest coffee cups pyramid consisting of 23,821 cups. They used paper takeaway coffee cups to build the pyramid.
