Absolve

//æbˈzɑlv// verb

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To set free, release or discharge (from obligations, debts, responsibility etc.). transitive

    "You will absolve a subject from his allegiance."

  2. 2
    let off the hook wordnet
  3. 3
    To resolve; to explain; to solve. obsolete, transitive

    "1595, George Peele, The Old Wives’ Tale, The Malone Society Reprints, 1908, lines 331-332, […] he that can monsters tame, laboures atchive, riddles absolve […]"

  4. 4
    grant remission of a sin to wordnet
  5. 5
    To pronounce free from or give absolution for a penalty, blame, or guilt. transitive

    "A Heretic may see the truth and seek redemption. He may be forgiven his past and will be absolved in death. A Traitor can never be forgiven. A Traitor will never find peace in this world or the next. There is nothing as wretched or as hated in all the world as a Traitor."

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  1. 6
    To pronounce not guilty; to grant a pardon for. transitive

    "Abſolves the juſt, and dooms the guilty ſouls."

  2. 7
    To grant a remission of sin; to give absolution to. transitive

    "To make confession and to be absolved."

  3. 8
    To remit a sin; to give absolution for a sin. transitive

    "In his name I abſolve your perjury and ſanctify your arms: follow my footſteps in the paths of glory and ſalvation; and if ſtill ye have ſcruples, devolve on my head the puniſhment and the ſin."

  4. 9
    To finish; to accomplish. obsolete, transitive

    "and the work begun, how ſoon / Abſolv'd,"

  5. 10
    To pass a course or test; to gain credit for a class; to qualify academically. transitive

Etymology

First attested in the early 15th century. From Middle English absolven, from Latin absolvere (“set free, acquit”), from ab (“away from”) + solvō (“loosen, free, release”). Doublet of assoil.

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