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acquit

verb
/əˈkwɪt/US

Etymology

From Middle English aquī̆ten (“to give in return; to pay, repay; to redeem (a pledge, security), to make good (a promise); to make amends; to relieve of an obligation; to acquit, clear of a charge; to free; to deprive of; to do one's part, acquit oneself; to act, behave (in a certain way)”), from Old French aquiter (“to act, do”) and Medieval Latin acquitāre (“to settle a debt”), from ad- (“to”) + quitare (“to free”), equivalent to a- + quit. Doublet of acquiet; also related to quit, quiet and acquiesce.

  1. derived from acquitāre
  2. derived from aquiter
  3. inherited from aquiten

Definitions

  1. To declare or find innocent or not guilty.

  2. To discharge (for example, a claim or debt)

    To discharge (for example, a claim or debt); to clear off, to pay off; to fulfil.

    • Midst foes (as champion of the faith) he ment / That palme or cypress should his paines acquite; […]
    • [Et ſi feoffati illi warrantum, vel medium not habeant.] That is to say, if they have neither one to warrant by ſpeciall graunt, nor any meſne by tenure which ought to acquit them, tunc omnes illi feoffati pro portione ſua contribuant, &c.

  3. to discharge, release, or set free from a burden, duty, liability, or obligation, or from…

    to discharge, release, or set free from a burden, duty, liability, or obligation, or from an accusation or charge.

    • The jury acquitted the prisoner of the charge.
    • Jerome. Object to Antonio? I have said it; his poverty, can you acquit him of that? / Ferd[inand]. Sir, I own he is not over rich; but he is of as ancient and honourable a family, as any in the kingdom.
    • This, madam, is a faithful narrative of every event in which we have been concerned together; and if you do not absolutely reject it as false, you will, I hope, acquit me henceforth of cruelty towards Mr. Wickham.
  4. ›+ 5 more definitions

    1. To bear or conduct oneself

      To bear or conduct oneself; to perform one's part.

      • The soldier acquitted herself well in battle.
      • The orator acquitted himself very poorly.
      • Though this was one of the firſt mercantile tranſactions of my life, yet I had no doubt about acquitting myſelf with reputation.

    2. To clear oneself.

      • God forbid any Malice ſhould preuayle, / That faultleſſe may condemne a Noble man: / Pray God he may acquit him of ſuſpicion.

    3. past participle of acquit.

      • Well I am glad I am ſo acquit of this tinder Boy.^([sic – meaning Box]) / His ſtealth was too open, his filching was like / An vnskilfull ſinger, he kept not time.

    4. To release, to rescue, to set free.

      • But be of cheare, and comfort to you take: / For till I haue acquitt your captiue knight, / Aſſure your ſelfe, I will you not forſake.

    5. To pay for

      To pay for; to atone for.

      • For me I am the miſtreſſe of my fate, / And with my treſpaſſe neuer will diſpence, / Till life to death acquit my forſt offence.

The neighborhood

Derived

acquitment, acquittal, acquital, acquittance, acquittee, acquitter, unacquittable, unacquitted, unaquit

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at acquit. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01acquit02obligation03social04outgoing05replaced06replace07pay08discharge

A definitional loop anchored at acquit. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

8 hops · closes at acquit

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA