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absolution

ab·so·lu·tion [ ˌab-sə-ˈlü-shən]

absolution

noun

[ˌab-sə-ˈlü-shən]

Definition of absolution

: the act of forgiving someone for having done something wrong or sinful : the act of absolving someone or the state of being absolved specifically : a remission of sins pronounced by a priest (as in the sacrament of reconciliation) The rite of confessing one's sins to a priest and receiving absolution … is also recognized as a sacrament in the Anglican and Orthodox Christian traditions. — Peter Steinfels

Synonyms & Antonyms for dainty

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Synonyms: Antonyms

Did You Know

Since the Latin absolutus meant "set free", it's easy to see how absolution came to mean "set free from sin". (And also easy to see why absolute means basically "pure"—that is, originally, "free of sin".) The verb for absolution is absolve. Just as a priest absolves believers of their sins, you may absolve your brother of blame for a household disaster, or you yourself may in time be absolved for that scrape on the car backing out of a parking space.

Recent Examples on the Web

//The Roys assume themselves to be exempt from the rules; the great comedy of Succession—and the great tragedy—is that nature will allow no such absolution.
— Megan Garber, The Atlantic, "Why Succession Works So Well as Horror," 13 Oct. 2019
//Images that derive from conservative Catholic penitents — a person who confesses sins and seeks absolution — merges with a marauding Ku Klux Klansman, a cruel villain of American history.
— Los Angeles Times, "Review: As impeachment flashbacks go, few better than Philip Guston’s ‘Tricky Dick’ drawings," 9 Oct. 2019
//Even though the film provides clear evidence that his thinking evolved toward Seymour’s conclusion, that humans tended toward coöperation, Lindeen denies Genovés such absolution.
— Nathan Taylor Pemberton, The New Yorker, "“The Raft” Chronicles an Extreme Experiment with Human Nature," 18 July 2019
//Every subject under discussion is presented in terms of crime and punishment, confession and absolution, contamination and purity.
— Tim Parks, Harper's magazine, "Murder Italian Style," 19 Aug. 2019
//Forgiveness and absolution are central tenets of Catholicism.
— John Kelly, Washington Post, "Why is a French nobleman who tried to blow up Napoleon buried in Georgetown?," 20 July 2019
//Not just freedom or forgiveness, but absolution, even grace.
— Mark Mahaney, Smithsonian, "Danny Thompson’s Blazing Nitromethane-Fueled Pursuit of Racing Glory," 10 July 2019
//The gift of absolution is given within a tribe, and rarely outside it.
— Laila Lalami, New York Times, "Does American ‘Tribalism’ End in a Compromise, or a Fight?," 26 June 2018
//Zaytoven’s beats flow around the anchor of Future’s voice, lifting him impossibly close to absolution in the process.
— Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, "The Cathartic Symphony of Future’s Beast Mode 2," 6 July 2018

First Known Use of absolution

13th century, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for absolution

Middle English absoluciun, borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin absolūtiōn-, absolūtiō "completion, acquittal, release," from absolū- (stem, before consonants, of absolvere "to set free, acquit, finish") + -tiōn-, -tiō suffix of action nouns — more at absolve

Dictionary Entries near absolution

More Synonyms and Antonyms ofabsolution