EXONERATE

acquit, assoil, clear, discharge, exonerate, exculpate

(verb) pronounce not guilty of criminal charges; “The suspect was cleared of the murder charges”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Verb

exonerate (third-person singular simple present exonerates, present participle exonerating, simple past and past participle exonerated)

(transitive, now rare) To relieve (someone or something) of a load; to unburden (a load).

(obsolete, reflexive) Of a body of water: to discharge or empty (itself).

(transitive) To free from an obligation, responsibility or task.

(transitive) To free from accusation or blame.

Synonyms: acquit, exculpate, Thesaurus:acquit

Adjective

exonerate

(archaic) Freed from an obligation; freed from accusation or blame; acquitted, exonerated.

Source: Wiktionary

Ex*on"er*ate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Exonerated; p. pr. & vb. n. Exonerating.] Etym: [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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition