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Absolve
Definitions
- 1 To set free, release or discharge (from obligations, debts, responsibility etc.). transitive
"You will absolve a subject from his allegiance."
- 2 let off the hook wordnet
- 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 grant remission of a sin to wordnet
- 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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- 6 To pronounce not guilty; to grant a pardon for. transitive
"Abſolves the juſt, and dooms the guilty ſouls."
- 7 To grant a remission of sin; to give absolution to. transitive
"To make confession and to be absolved."
- 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."
- 9 To finish; to accomplish. obsolete, transitive
"and the work begun, how ſoon / Abſolv'd,"
- 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.
See also for "absolve"
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