assoil
To absolve or release from blame or sinTo absolve or release (someone) from blame or sin; to forgive, to pardon.
Meaning
10 senses(archaic, transitive)To absolve or release (someone) from blame or sin; to forgive, to pardon.
(archaic, transitive)To atone or expiate for (something).
(archaic, transitive)Followed by from or of: to acquit (someone) from a criminal charge; to find (someone) not guilty; to clear.
pronounce not guilty of criminal charges
(archaic, obsolete, transitive)Followed by from or of: to release or set free (someone) from a liability, an obligation, etc.; to discharge.
(obsolete, transitive)To clear up or resolve (a difficulty, doubt, problem, etc.); to absolve, to solve.
(obsolete, transitive)To refute (an argument, an objection, etc.).
(obsolete, rare, transitive)To discharge (a liability, an obligation, etc.).
(obsolete, rare, transitive)To get rid of, put off, or remove (something).
(obsolete, transitive)To absolve or release (someone) from excommunication or some other religious offence.
(archaic, obsolete, transitive)To make (something) dirty or soiled; to soil; to stain; to sully.
Origin
From Middle English assoilen (“to absolve or release from blame or sin”), from Anglo-NormaFrom Middle English assoilen (“to absolve or release from blame or sin”), from Anglo-Norman as(s)oiler, as(s)oilier, and Old French as(s)oille [and other forms], the present subjunctive, and as(s)oil, the present indicative, of as(s)oldre, as(s)oudre (“to absolve from blame”) (modern French absoudre), from Latin absoluere, the present active infinitive of absoluō, a variant of absolvō (“to set free from”), from ab- (prefix meaning ‘away from’) + solvō (“to loosen, set free”) (from sē- (“prefix meaning ‘apart; aside; away’”) + luō (“to let go, set free”). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewH- (“to cut off, to free”). Doublet of absolve and assoilzie.
Possibly from a- (intensifying prefix) or ad- (prefix meaning ‘to, toward’, or indicating an addition or tendency) + soil (“to make dirty”), perhaps influenced by assoil (etymology 1).
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Forms
assoils, assoiling, assoiled, assoiledSynonyms
63 synonymsWord family
3 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle